MEDUSA AND VERSACE HEAD SYMBOL

The world of the Italian designer Gianni Versace is reflected in the Medusa- head symbol, that is ornamented in a typically Greek fashion.

The choice was made deliberately. Medusa does not only epitomise beauty - Greek art and philosophy, however, attributed also a fatal fascination to her. Her beauty is of a kind that is spell binding and confusing.

In Greek mythology Medusa is one of the three Gorgons. Originally a beautiful virgin, she was turned into a horrific sight by the goddess Athene - serpents instead of hair, teeth like a wild boar and lolling tongue – because she had desecrated Athene’s temple by making love to Poseidon there.

Benvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the Head of Medusa, 1545, Piazza della Signoria, Florence

She was so terrible to look at that everybody who regarded her face turned into stone. Finally, she was killed by Perseus, who cut her head with a sword.