In Medusa’s eyes: Petrification and Marble Portraits in Late Sixteenth-Century Poetry

The essay investigates literary representations of marble portraits in the late sixteenth century context, shedding light on the evolution of a Petrarchan theme up to the Renaissance period. By reshaping the meter, the identity of the marble subject, and the stylistic construction of these texts, such literary representations became increasingly detached from the original Petrarchan model. Over time, moreover, the predominant poetic device became that of the talking statue that retells its own story. This latter change invites questions about the uncertain boundary between art and reality, particularly in the case of the sculpture, and leads to a reconsideration of the late sixteenth-century enthusiasm for (and influence of) epigrams of classical and neo-Latin imprint.