Drachm (Coin) Depicting the Gorgon Medusa

411-356 BCE

Greek; minted in Neapolis, ancient Macedon, Greece

The front (obverse) of this coin depicts a Gorgon’s head with neat, tight curls. The back (reverse) depicts the head of Parthenos of Neapolis (modern Naples) laureate to right.

The three Gorgon sisters were winged deities of which Medusa is the most famous. She bore the winged horse Pegasus to her love, the god Poseidon. Her head, cut off by Perseus, was worn by Athena as her protective aegis. Neopolis, in a horse-breeding area, chose Pegasus’ mother for their coin.

When Athena discovered that Poseidon, the god of the sea, had fallen in love with the beautiful Gorgon Medusa, she turned the girl into a monster, and that is how Medusa appears on this coin from Neapolis in Macedonia. With snakes as hair, Medusa turned to stone any man who dared to look at her.

Status: On View, Gallery 151
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Drachm (Coin) Depicting the Gorgon Medusa
Place: Kavála (Minted in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Struck 411 BCE–356 BCE
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Reverse: Ν Ε Ο Π "Neop[oliton]"
Dimensions: Diam.: 1.5 cm (5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1922.4922
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/5758/manifest.json

Gross-Diaz, Theresa, “Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1994), pp. 45, no. 29, 48 (ill).
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 29.
Elizabeth Hahn Benge, “From Aegina to Andronicus: A Survey of Coinage at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Historia Mundi n. 5 (January 2016), p. 206-7 (fig. 8).

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994 - February 22, 2004 and May 16, 2004 - February 6, 2012.
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Centaur’s Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art, February 22 – May 16, 2004.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012 - present.

Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.