ON THE MEDUSA OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
LOVE’S PHILOSOPHY.
FRAGMENT: ‘FOLLOW TO THE DEEP WOOD’S WEEDS’.
The Annotated Edition
ON THE MEDUSA OF LEONARDO DA VINCI. by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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Shelley gazes at a painting he thought was Leonardo da Vinci's portrayal of Medusa's severed head, feeling both horrified and captivated.
- Themes
- art, beauty, death
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
Shelley gazes at a painting he thought was Leonardo da Vinci's portrayal of Medusa's severed head, feeling both horrified and captivated. The poem delves into how great art can transform something grotesque into something sublime — the beauty and the horror are intertwined. It raises the question: can something frightening also be beautiful? Shelley's answer is a resounding yes.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Line by line
Stanza by stanza, with notes
It lieth, gazing on the midnight sky,
Editor's note
Shelley begins with a vivid image of Medusa's severed head, motionless, her lifeless eyes gazing up at the night sky. The scene is unsettling—despite her death, the head seems to possess an unsettling life and awareness. This introduces the main conflict: something that is both destroyed and severed continues to emanate an unusual power.
Upon the cloudy mountain-peak supine;
Editor's note
The head lies against a rocky surface, and Shelley starts to add the landscape around it — snakes twisting in her hair, the chill of the stone below her. The natural world, with its mountains and clouds, surrounds the supernatural figure, anchoring the horror in a tangible, physical space.
'Tis the tempestuous loveliness of terror;
Editor's note
This line is the poem's most iconic and central concept. Shelley creates a paradox with the phrase "tempestuous loveliness of terror" to illustrate the blend of beauty and fear in this image. In this context, terror isn't something that opposes beauty; instead, it drives it. The intensity of the scene is precisely what makes it so captivating.
For from the serpents gleams a brazen glare
Editor's note
The snakes in Medusa's hair reflect the light, producing a chilling, metallic shine. Shelley highlights light as both illuminating and perilous—the same radiance that allows you to see her head is the one that, in myth, could turn you to stone. The act of looking and the risk of destruction are intertwined.
Its horror and its beauty are divine.
Editor's note
Shelley concludes by asserting that the horror and beauty of the image are both divine — not one at the expense of the other, but both existing together. This directly challenges the notion that beauty has to be pleasant or safe. For Shelley, the greatest art embraces opposites in tension without trying to resolve them.
§04Tone & mood
How this poem feels
The tone is quiet and filled with admiration, similar to someone gazing at a painting they can't help but stare at. There's a constant sense of unease, but it never crosses into disgust — Shelley consistently leans back toward awe. The language is refined and sophisticated, fitting for the topic: he's approaching a monstrous image with the same respect you'd show a sacred one.
§05Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- Medusa's severed head
- The head serves as the main symbol of the poem, representing the blend of beauty and terror. In mythology, Medusa's gaze is lethal — yet in a painting, that dangerous power is captured and rendered safe to behold. Shelley suggests that art changes the unbearable into something we can reflect on and even appreciate.
- The serpents
- The snakes twisting in Medusa's hair embody a living, vibrant danger. They shine and slither even in death, implying that destructive energy doesn't just vanish — it lingers, coils, and reflects light. Additionally, they tie into ancient concepts of evil and temptation.
- Light and gleam
- Light in the poem has a dual nature. It brightens the painting, revealing its beauty, yet in the original myth, gazing at Medusa leads to death. Shelley employs light to illustrate that art acts as a mediator between the viewer and something that could otherwise be destructive — the canvas serves as a protective barrier.
- The midnight sky
- The dark sky overhead hints at infinity, emptiness, and death. Medusa looks up at it, seemingly lost in her thoughts about the abyss. This scene portrays her not merely as a monster but as a being caught between humanity and the cosmos.
- The mountain
- The rocky, cold mountain setting places Medusa in a breathtaking landscape—one of those wild, unwelcoming places that Romantic poets linked to nature's immense power. It enhances the feeling that what we're witnessing goes beyond typical human experience.
§06Historical context
Historical context
Shelley wrote this poem as a reaction to a painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which was believed at the time to be by Leonardo da Vinci. Today, we know it was actually created by a Flemish artist, but for Shelley and his peers, the connection to Leonardo gave it significant prestige. During his visit to Florence in 1819, Shelley was in a creative frenzy, producing works like *Prometheus Unbound* and *Ode to the West Wind*. This poem aligns with the Romantic tradition of the sublime, a concept explored by Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, suggesting that our most intense aesthetic experiences arise from things that overwhelm or terrify us rather than from mere beauty. Shelley takes this idea further by arguing that horror and beauty aren’t just compatible; they actually depend on each other. The poem was published after his death in 1824.
§07FAQ
Questions readers ask
He's talking about a painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence called *Medusa*, which was once thought to be by Leonardo da Vinci. Nowadays, art historians believe it was actually created by a Flemish artist, likely in the late 16th century. This mix-up doesn't affect the poem — Shelley's reaction to the image is authentic, no matter who the artist really was.
The central theme is the connection between beauty and terror. Shelley suggests that the most intense beauty isn't soft or easy — it's the type that both captivates and intimidates you. He refers to this as 'the tempestuous loveliness of terror,' likely the most frequently quoted line in the poem.
'Tempestuous' refers to something stormy and violent. In this context, it describes a beauty that is wild, chaotic, and grounded in fear rather than anything comfortable or enjoyable. Shelley suggests that the painting's beauty stems from its terrifying aspects, rather than being an exception to them. Both emotions strike you simultaneously and are inseparable.
It's mainly about the painting — this is known as an *ekphrastic* poem, which is a poem created in reaction to a piece of visual art. While Shelley references the myth (the snakes, the petrifying gaze), his true focus is on the feeling of standing before the canvas, feeling both repelled and captivated at the same time.
By referring to them as divine, Shelley lifts these qualities above the typical human distinctions of good and bad, beautiful and ugly. He suggests that this image functions on a level that surpasses ordinary aesthetic evaluation — it belongs to a higher, almost sacred realm of experience. This approach is distinctly Romantic: viewing art as a form of spirituality.
The sublime is a concept that Romantic writers and philosophers employed to capture experiences that leave you in awe — like vast mountains, fierce storms, or the ocean under the night sky. Unlike beauty, which is simply enjoyable, the sublime intertwines feelings of wonder and fear. Shelley takes this idea and applies it to a painting instead of a natural scene, suggesting that great art can evoke the same powerful, mixed emotions that nature does.
No. Shelley drowned in 1822 at 29, and the poem came out posthumously in 1824. A lot of his later work, including this poem, was only available to readers after he passed away.
It relates strongly to poems such as *Mont Blanc* and *Ode to the West Wind*, where Shelley wrestles with forces that are immense, destructive, and beautiful simultaneously. He often explored the notion that power and beauty converge at their peak, and this poem stands out as one of his most direct expressions of that idea.
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