Rubens' The Head of Medusa

With his Head of the Medusa, Rubens created a composition that takes inspiration from famous paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio while introducing new ideas. Two versions were already documented in contemporary collections during Rubens' lifetime, and in 2018 they could be admired side by side in Vienna for the first time since they were created in the Antwerp studio. This provided new insights into workshop practice. The two paintings are multi-layered in the truest sense of the word and were created during a very exciting time of upheaval for the natural sciences. Together with Frans Snyders, who specialised in depicting animals, Rubens created a painting that was already described by contemporaries as terribly beautiful.