Album 1
arrow left swipe to the left Visible reflectance photograph Verso of the fortieth sheet, Album 1 activate zoom zoom tool
Leaf 40 verso activate zoom zoom tool
Visible reflectance photograph Frieze with head of Medusa, console with scroll, acroterion activate zoom zoom tool arrow right swipe to the right
activate zoom zoom tool Leaf 41

Works on this double page

  • Visible reflectance photograph Black chalk drawing of a frieze from the Villa Albani, section with a Medusa head cut off in the central axis on the left and a bucranion on the right
  • Visible reflectance photograph Chalk drawing of a Corbel with scroll, leafy vine and flower motifs
  • Visible reflectance photograph Red chalk drawing of an acroterion with acanthus ornamentation
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Album 1, Leaf 41

The head of Medusa stares out from the drawing in the upper left-hand corner of this album leaf – even the sight of half her face with just one eye is terrifying. In Greek mythology, one look at her face was enough to turn the beholder to stone. The image shows the section of a frieze from the Villa Albani in Rome, which was built for Cardinal Alessandro Albani in the mid-18th century. It was here that the cardinal presented his outstanding collection of antiquities and paintings.

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