A key figure in Greek mythology, Medusa has exerted her power of fascination on many generations of artists, who have contributed to the creation of an incredibly rich repertoire of images. Commonly recognized by her hair swarming with snakes and her wide-set eyes, the figure of Medusa has been constantly renewed through the ages. The exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen is devoted to the evolution of these representations, from the earliest iconographic sources of Antiquity to the most recent artistic productions.

The exhibition features sixty-five works by leading artists, held in French and international collections. From the ancient Greek sculptor Crésilas to today's artists: Benvenuto Cellini, Sandro Botticelli, Pierre Paul Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Adèle d'Affry, Jean-Marc Nattier, Theodor van Thulden, Maxmilián Pirner, Franz von Stuck, Edward Burne-Jones, Antoine Bourdelle, Auguste Rodin, Alberto Giacometti, Luciano Garbati, Laetitia Ky, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster... The exhibition embraces the fields of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, photography, the decorative arts, cinema and video games. These multiple insights provide a rich, paradoxical and up-to-date vision of this fascinating figure, several thousand years old.