The chalcedony cameo is based on the famous Medusa Rondanini, formerly exhibited at the Palazzo Rondanini in Rome, and now in the Glyptothek in Munich. The over life-size marble carving is possibly a Roman copy after a Greek 5th century BC original by Phidias, and is more humanised and beautiful than the fearful and grotesque image of the Gorgon's head normally seen on the aegis of Athena. The striking image of the Medusa Rondanini was much admired by art historians and artists alike, and when the sculptor Antonio Canova wanted a model for the Gorgon's head for his Perseus with the head of Medusa (1798-1801) it was the Rondanini version that he used. The pendant offered here is a fusion of Classical and Renaissance design and the cameo differs from the Rondanini type in several ways. Instead of the wings being an integral part of the cameo head, here they are much larger, made of gold decorated with enamel and used to frame the face in the manner of angel's wings. The serpents at the throat are also not integral parts of the cameo, and are far less prominent than in the marble original. The mask of Medusa has fascinated designers over the centuries and has lost none of it's power today.