hellish news

This painting of the Medusa (1590, a decade before our course period), oil on wood, by Caravaggio, was the first in my series of infernal surprises. To look upon the face of the Medusa was to be turned to stone. Note the root of the word astonished. The word means "turned to stone," which was the mortal fate of looking upon the medusa's face.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy the Carol Gerten-Jackson Fine Arts  site, well worth visiting.

For the second of my infernal surprises, visit the following link: an astonishing peek