Description
Reproduction of the iconic poster of 1898 for the play “Medea”, starring Sarah Bernard, a popular French actress of the late 19th century.
The story of Medea is part of the great myth “Jason and the Argonauts”. She helped Jason tame the bulls and put to sleep the dragon that guarded the golden fleece, and then became his wife. All these events were presented retrospectively before the play, and the plot itself began from the moment when Jason lived in Corinth and planned to marry the daughter of the king there. After learning about this, Medea decided to take revenge on her young rival by giving her a poisoned peplos (something like a light women’s dress in ancient Greece) and a diadem through her children. And to cause more pain to Jason, she killed her children.
This tragedy was written by Euripides in 431 BC. The poster depicts Medea with her dead rival lying at her feet. In her hands, Medea holds a bloody dagger with which she killed her children. She looks shocked, as if realizing what happened.
Unlike Alphonse Mucha’s other works, this poster is full of drama and emotion. The woman looks at us from affiche, as if begging for help.
