Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry

Preview image of work. engraving on cream antique laid paper, Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry 21551

2011.69.77

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Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry

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Artist

René Boyvin (Angers, France, ca. 1525 - ca. 1625)

Title

Medea Watching a Chariot Drawn by Dragons, after Leonard Thiry

Creation Date

1563

Century

mid-16th century

Dimensions

7 1/2 in. x 9 1/16 in. (19 cm x 23 cm)

Object Type

Creation Place

Europe, France

Medium and Support

engraving on cream antique laid paper

Credit Line

Bequest of David P. Becker, Class of 1970

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

2011.69.77

Medea Watching Her Chariot conveys one episode from a series of prints relating the tragic story of Jason, who would later marry and betray the sorceress Medea. In the center narrative panel, Medea kneels naked amid the turbulent forces of nature, calling upon the cosmic powers that fuel her dragon chariot. It bears her through the night sky, seen in two details at top left and right. An overwhelming Mannerist frame surrounds the scene with a profusion of figures, fruits, episodes of thwarted love, curling cut leather, and ominous masks. At the top, disturbing figures of bearded elders hunched over books counter a satyr family lounging at bottom, setting up a discordant and unsettling mood. A leering mask with a toothy grimace dominates the bottom of the frame. These framing elements press in on the narrative field, creating a claustrophobic feeling that hints at the lust, betrayal, foul magic, and rage that characterizes the dark beauty of the myth.