Perseus Turning Phineus to Stone and Minerva Visiting the Muses
Phineus turned into Stone and Minerva visiting the Muses
Pl. from
Ovid's Metamorphosis Englished Mythologized and Represented in Figures,
Tanslated by George Sandys. Image from the 1640 Edition.
- Engraved by Francisco Cleyn (and etched by Salomon Savery) for Book V of George Sandys's 1632/1640 edition of Ovid's Metamorphosis Englished, Mythologiz'd, and Represented in Figures, this copperplate engraving visually synthesizes multiple narrative threads from Ovid’s epic into a single composite landscape. In the immediate foreground, the banquet hall erupts into chaos as Phineus and his armed followers crash the wedding feast of Perseus and Andromeda. Outnumbered, Perseus unveils the Gorgon’s head, dramatically turning Phineus and his conspirators into rigid stone statues mid-attack. In the upper background, the narrative shifts to a serene, mountainous realm where Minerva (wearing her helmet and carrying a spear) visits the Muses on Mount Helicon to inspect Hippocrene, the sacred spring created by Pegasus's hoof strike, highlighting the continuous movement of Ovidian metamorphosis across earthly and divine spheres.
- Symbolically and spiritually, the print illustrates the stark moral dualism between brutal worldly ignorance and divine intellectual enlightenment. The violent petrification of Phineus represents the self-destructive nature of hubris, envy, and spiritual blindness; by choosing violence against a sacred union blessed by the gods, the aggressors are fittingly frozen into the cold stone that mirrors their hardened hearts. Conversely, Minerva’s peaceful journey to the Muses symbolizes the soul's ascent toward divine wisdom, inspiration, and the cultivation of the arts. Juxtaposing the sudden downfall of tyrannical force with the timeless sanctuary of poetic and intellectual creation, the engraving conveys that while physical violence and moral decay consume themselves in chaos, divine wisdom ultimately triumphs and fosters eternal spiritual renewal.
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