Representation of love's relationship with the desire to kill in visual arts: Medea Paintings

Öz

The most well-known portrayal of the character of Medea is that depicted in Euripides' play, which was written in the 5th century BC. The play is regarded as a mythical and terrifying depiction of a female figure. The character of Medea is often analysed in terms of the tragedy of an inappropriately overvalued attachment to innocent children. This attachment involves violence, betrayal, abandonment, revenge, murder, witchcraft and theft. Medea is frequently interpreted as a terrorised character who supports the classical masculine heroic narrative, often transgressing archaic gender codes. This subject and character, which has been discussed and evaluated in the fields of literature, theatre, visual arts, cinema and psychiatry, is also worthy of examination within the discipline of art history. This publication, which was created with the iconographic analysis of Medea depictions of different periods and artists preferred in the art of painting, was prepared by compiling the works of names such as Evelyn de Morgan, Artemisia Gentileschi, Eugene Delacroix, and Alfons Maria Mucha.The study questions whether the character of Medea killed her children "in a fit of passionate rage" or "in cold blood" in the works of artists. It is asserted that these artistic representations present a dichotomy between demonic monstrosity and human empathy, challenging conventional perceptions of “Medea as a mere demonic figüre” or “a victimised woman driven to madness” from the perspective of Art History, this study interrogates the reasons for the depiction of the Medea in artistic works, with the objective of unveiling the manner in which it is represented.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mythology
• Painting
• Betrayal
• Medea
• Revenge

Aşkın, öldürme arzusu ile ilişkisinin görsel sanatlarda temsili: Medea Resimleri

Öz

Medea karakterinin en tanınmış hikayesi, Euripides'in MÖ 5. yüzyılda kaleme aldığı oyununda tasvir edilen efsanevi, ürkütücü kadın figürdür. Bu hikâye özelde masum çocuklara yönelik şiddet, ihanet, terk edilme, intikam, cinayet, büyücülük, hırsızlık unsurlarını içeren; aşırı şekilde değer verilen bir bağlılığın yarattığı trajedinin sembolüdür. Medea klasik eril kahramanlık anlatısını destekleyen, çoğunlukla arkaik cinsiyet kodlarını aşan, terörize bir karakter olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Edebiyat, tiyatro, görsel sanatlar, sinema ve psikiyatri alanlarında ele alınıp değerlendirilen bu konu ve karakter sanat tarihi disiplini çerçevesinde de incelenmeye değerdir. Resim sanatı özelinde tercih edilen farklı dönem ve sanatçılara ait Medea tasvirlerinin ikonografik çözümlemeleriyle oluşturulan bu yayın benzer duyguları kendi hayatlarında deneyimlemiş isimler olan Evelyn de Morgan, Artemisia Gentileschi, Eugene Delacroix, Alfons Maria Mucha gibi isimlerin çalışmaları incelenerek hazırlanmıştır. Çalışma Medea karakterinin çocuklarını “tutkulu bir öfke nöbetiyle mi?”, yoksa “soğukkanlılıkla mı öldürdüğü?” gerçeğini sanatçıların eserlerinde sorgulamaktadır. Bu eserlerden hareketle “Medea şeytani bir canavar olarak mı görülmeli?”, yoksa “haksızlığa uğrayan, deliliğe sürüklenen mağdur bir kadın gibi insanileştirilmeli mi?” sorularına yanıt aramaktadır. Yazı sanat tarihi disiplini bakış açısıyla resimsel inceleme ve ikonografik çözümleme metodu kullanılarak oluşturulmuştur. Medea anlatısının sanatçıların eserlerinde temsil edilme sebeplerini sorgulamakta ve nasıl tasvir edildiğini açığa çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mitoloji
• Resim sanatı
• İhanet
• Medea
• İntikam

Kaynakça

1. Cruise, C. (2012). Pre-Raphaelite drawing. In E. Prettejohn (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to the Pre-Raphaelites (pp. 47–61). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-the-preraphaelites/preraphaelite-drawing/B2DB1959D0E423D38F1F6E96DB984DF3
2. De Morgan, E. (1889). Medea [Yağlı boya tablosu]. Williamson Sanat Galerisi ve Müzesi., Birkenhead, UK. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/medea-68384/search/2025--keyword:medea--referrer:global-search
3. Delacroix, E. (1838). Médée furieuse [Yağlı boya tablosu]. Musée du Louvre, Fransa. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010059373
4. Euripides. (1943). Medeia (A. H. Tanpınar, Çev.). MEB Yayınları.
5. Finn, M. (2020). Finn, M. (2020). Exhibition review: Mucha, A. Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau/Nouvelle Femme. Art Inquiries, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.60649/0FQT-VK29
6. Garrard, M. D. (2020). Artemisia Gentileschi and feminism in early modern Europe. Reaktion Books.
7. Gentileschi. A. (1620). Medea [Yağlı boya tablosu]. Private collection. https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-euripides-medea-and-her-terrible-revenge-against-the-patriarchy-106151
8. Hannoosh, M. (1995). Painting and the journal of Eugène Delacroix. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. https://books.google.com.tr/books/about/Painting_ and_the_Journal_of_Eug%C3%A8ne_Dela.html?id=2VtoQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

9. Hasenmueller, C. (1978). Panofsky, Iconography, and Semiotics. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 36(3), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.2307/430439
10. Johnston, S. I. (1997). Corinthian Medea and the cult of Hera Akraia. In J. J. Clauss & S. I. Johnston (Eds.), Medea: Essays on Medea in myth, literature, philosophy, and art (pp. 44–77). Princeton University Press.
11. Jung, C. G. (1954). Mysterium coniunctionis: An inquiry into the separation and synthesis of psychic opposites in alchemy (2nd ed., Bollingen Series XX, The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 14; H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire, Eds.). Princeton University Press. https://jungiancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vol-14-Mysterium-Coniunctionis-by-C-G-Jung.pdf
12. Madison, S. L. (2018). The murdering mother: The making and unmaking of Medea in ancient Greek image and text. Bard College.
13. Mann, J. W. (2009). Identity signs: Meanings and methods in Artemisia Gentileschi’s signatures. Renaissance Studies, 23(1), 71–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-4658.2008.00542.x
14. Morris, W. (1904). The poems of William Morris. T. Y. Crowell.
15. Mucha, A. M. (1898). Médée (Medea) (Poster for a performance by Sarah Bernhardt at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris) [Litograf]. Museum of Modern Art, New York City. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/8983
16. Ramírez Alvarado, M. D. M., & Bellido-Pérez, E. (2025). Artemisia Gentileschi and the ‘biographical sensationalism’ in the interpretation of her artistic work. The Seventeenth Century, 40(1), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117X.2024. 2424967
17. Rosenfeld, J. (2012). Pre-Raphaelites. Tate Publishing.
18. Stern, E. S. (1948). The Medea complex: The mother’s homicidal wishes to her child. Journal of Mental Science, 94(395), 321–331. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.94.395.321
19. Warner, R. (Trans.). (1955). Medea (pp. 56–108). In D. Grene & R. Lattimore (Eds.), The complete Greek tragedies: Euripides I (pp. 56–108). University of Chicago Press. https://classics.domains.skidmore.edu/lit-campus-only/primary/translations/ Euripides%20Med.pdf