Caravaggio’s Medusa (c. 1597) is a visceral masterpiece of Baroque realism, famously painted on a circular wooden shield to mimic the reflective buckler used by Perseus to defeat the Gorgon. Captured at the exact moment of her decapitation, Medusa’s face is a haunting study of psychological horror, with eyes wide in shock and a mouth frozen in a silent, blood-curdling scream. Eschewing the traditional beauty often attributed to the myth, Caravaggio emphasizes the grotesque: dark, writhing vipers replace her hair, and vivid, realistic blood spurts from her severed neck. The use of intense chiaroscuro creates a startling three-dimensional effect, making the head appear to project outward from the convex surface toward the viewer.