The decorative ornament MEDUSA | Greek mythology as decoration | Medusa ornament as ornamental carving

The decorative ornament MEDUSA

The decorative ornament MEDUSA

Greek mythology as decoration, Medusa

-A particularly common decorative ornament is the head of Medusa.

It can be executed in several ways: in stone, wood and iron and often it is depicted on a shield but occasionally I also encounter it without this background. As an independent ornament it can be in the form of a sculpture or a bas relief carving.

Who is Medusa then?

According to Greek mythology, Medusa is a daughter of the sea gods Phorcys and his sister Ceto. Together with her sisters Stheno and Euryale they were depicted as women with tusks, hands of bronze, golden wings and snakes instead of hair and were called the gorgonians. Medusa was the only one who was mortal.

Museum in Lille (FR) | Medusa

Originally Medusa was a beautiful girl until she was caught by Pallas Athens in one of her temples while there Medusa made love to Poseidon and thus disconsecrated the temple. According to Ovid, Medusa was raped by Poseidon. Nevertheless, Pallas Athens became so angry that she turned Medusa into a monster with snakes like hair, tusks of a pig, glowing eyes and a tongue that stuck out of the mouth. A cosmetic metamorphosis that made the sight of Medusa so terrible that everyone who looked at her turned into stone.

Medusa was finally beheaded by the hero Perseus, who had received some help from Athens, and as a thank you Perseus offered her the head of Medusa and Athens placed the head on her shield in order to petrify enemies with it.

The shepherd's hour with Poseidon was not without consequences and when Peseus cut off the head of Medusa, Medusa gave birth to the winged horse Pegasus together with the giant Chrysaor.

Because of the frightening sight of Medusa's head, this motif is often used as an ornament on doors and facades of buildings or in the possession of a king.

Here are some examples of this decorative ornament

that I've photographed for many years.

Left shield, the ornament MEDUSA | Castle of Versailles

Statue of Louis XIV in Versailles

Detail statue Louis XIV | MEDUSA |

Castle of Versailles

Le Grand Trianon in Versailles | Compositions of ornaments

On the left in the picture a shield with Medusa

At the TEFAF in Maastricht |

Medusa depicted on a shield

Antica 2018 Namur Antiques Fair | Medusa in bronze

Medusa, Richelieu Library in Paris |

Facade decoration in stone

  

The decorative ornament MEDUSA

Medusa depicted on a cannon | Paris Les Invalides

Medusa | Antica Namur Antiques Fair Belgium, 2019

Greek mythology as decoration | Fontainebleau

The decorative ornament MEDUSA |

Greek mythology as decoration | Fontainebleau

Medusa depicted in a war trophy |

Paris Carnavalet Museum

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Where to buy family coat of arms wall plaques | Family crest carvings | Heraldic woodcarver-sculptor Patrick Damiaens

Family crest carvings |
Heraldic Woodcarver / Sculptor Patrick Damiaens

Welcome to the coat of arms and crest plaque promotion page of my personal ornamental woodcarver blog. Heraldic Woodcarver-sculptor Patrick Damiaens specializes in designing and manufacturing custom carved coat of arms plaques. This blog page provides you a description and a picture Gallery of my custom  and personalized wooden wall plaques carvings featuring family & organization coat-of-arms, crests, and other heraldry symbols.

I design and carve a wide variety of custom and personalized hand-crafted wooden wall plaques of a high quality, they are beautiful works of art that last for generations.

Our coat of arms / family crest plaques are museum quality. We offer the highest quality materials, traditional craftsmanship and great customer service.

Have your personal family coat of arms carved into wood. All we need is a good photo or drawing of your personal family coat of arms / crest. 

In the portfolio of my website you can see some examples of different versions and applications of heraldic crests and coat of arms manufactured by our woodcarving workshop.

Heraldic municipal arms or club arms carved or sculpted in wood, can be provided with the correct heraldic colours, gold leaf and silver leaf applied by traditional technique. These techniques give the family coat of arms an exclusive and distinctive look.

Hand carved Heraldic coats of arms in wood are also a welcome gift for an anniversary or other occasion.

Family crest carvings |
Heraldic woodcarver-sculptor Patrick Damiaens

Where to buy family coat of arms wall plaques

Carved wall plaque with coat of arms / crest

Heraldic woodcarver-sculptor Patrick Damiaens

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The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles | Gilded frame with garlands | Carving a garland

The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles 

The Great Trianon floor plan

The COTELLE Gallery

The Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles

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The Great Trianon (Le Grand Trianon) is a large pleasure pavilion in the castle garden of Versailles, named after a former hamlet Trianon. The ceremonial customs forced the king to share even the most intimate matters with the court - from getting up in the morning (liver) to going to bed in the evening (coucher).

The royal desire for a little privacy resulted in the construction of two pleasure castles in the park: on the one hand, the graceful Grand Trianon, built in 1687 in Italian style by Jules Mansart and consisting of two wings connected by a pink marble colonnade and, on the other hand, the Cotelle Gallery, built at right angles to the right wing.

The Cotelle Gallery ( The Great Trianon Versailles )

This long and cleverly placed gallery protects the ground floor flower beds of the Grand Trianon against the worst winter weather. The gallery has eleven windows along the full length of the building facing south and only five on the north side.

The gallery is decorated with 24 paintings - of which 21 by Jean Cotelle, hence the name - depicting the forestquet of Versailles and Le Trianon as they were when these canvases were painted in 1687.

They provide a valuable insight into the layout of the gardens when they were first laid out in the seventeenth century. The niches in this gallery originally contained benches, which Louis-Philippe had replaced with two Languedoc marble basins from the Louis XV collections.

Under each painting there is an elegant console in (? Empire style).

The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles |

Gilded frame with garlands

Normally, this gallery is not accessible to the public, only the first two metres of the gallery are open to the public, and within these two metres, bounded by a thick rope, this part of the Cotelle Gallery is also the end of your visit to the Grand Trianon in Versailles.

What's so special about this gallery?

When I first came here many, many years ago, I had already noticed that around these 24 paintings there were special beautiful gilded frames, and in particular the lower part.

A central shell motif with a beautiful gilded garland of flowers. I had already photographed the two frames in the section accessible to the visitor a number of times. From a distance I could recognize that these super beautiful garlands of flowers could all be different. A source of inspiration for the woodcarver, I thought. But I couldn't take pictures, it was a pity.

In 2014 there was a temporary exhibition in this gallery but due to the arrangement it was unfortunately not possible to photograph these 'other' gilded flowers garlands.

July 26, 2019, there was again a temporary exhibition (modern art) with this time a constellation in the center of the gallery.

Talk about happiness! Photos could be taken of the designs and combinations of the gilded garlands to your heart's content. The imagination of these woodcarvers must have been enormous to draw and create all these combinations of flowers in wood.

Probably the frames are made of soft wood although I'm not sure, but from the damage of the gilding I saw a kind of wood of light hue appear. I'll let you enjoy the craftsmanship, imagination and combinations of the garlands of flowers. Hopefully it will be a source of inspiration for you.

The COTELLE Gallery Versailles |

Gilded frame with garlands as inspiration for the woodcarver

The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles

The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles

The COTELLE Gallery Versailles |

Gilded frame with garlands as inspiration for the woodcarver

Gilded frame with garlands of flowers

The COTELLE Gallery of the Great Trianon in the garden of Versailles |

Gilded frame with garlands

Gilded frame with garlands of flowers

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