Perseus with the Head of Medusa (Cellini)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Benvenuto Cellini’s 1545 bronze sculpture of Perseus and the head of Medusa on a square base with bronze relief panels is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy.
It depicts Perseus holding the head of Medusa" a work (first suggested by Duke Cosimo I de Medici) now in the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence, his attempt to surpass Michelangelo's David and Donatello's Judith and Holofernes. The casting of this work caused Cellini much trouble and anxiety, but it was hailed as a masterpiece as soon as it was completed. The original relief from the foot of the pedestal — Perseus and Andromeda — is in the Bargello, and replaced by a cast.
By 1996, centuries of environmental pollution exposure had streaked and banded the statue. In December of that year it was removed from the Loggia and transferred to the Uffizi for cleaning and restoration. It was a slow, years-long process, and the restored statue was not returned to its home until June 2000.
