Simeon Solomon (1840-1905)

The head of Medusa was a recurring theme in Solomon's later work, often combined with a twisted, tormented face representing the human conscience. Variations on this head have different titles inscribed by Solomon, including The Tormented Conscience and Corruptio Optimi Pessima. The title of the present drawing relates to Rossetti's poem Aspecta Medusa. Rossetti composed the poem as a companion for a painting in 1865, but never completed a picture on the subject. Solomon titled another study of this subject with lines from Rossetti's poem.

Although the combination of the Medusa and the tortured conscience is Solomon's own, the theme of the Medusa was explored by several early Symbolist artists in the latter part of the 19th Century, particularly in France and Belgium.