Evelyn de Morgan - Medea

• Title: Medea
• Artist: Evelyn de Morgan (1855-1919)
• Date: 1889
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 148 x 88 cm

"Medea" is based on the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, where

she aids Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. They move together to Corinth where they get married and have children. After ten years of marriage, Jason intends to abandon Medea, to get her exiled with their sons staying with him and declare their marriage moot because she is a foreigner and to wed the king of Corinth's daughter, Creusa. In revenge against Jason, Medea murders her own sons and Jason's new bride, so that Jason will be without heir and legacy for the rest of his life.

In this painting, Medea is portrayed as a beautiful married woman (hair attached), wearing a melancholic look, walking through the palace carrying a carafe, presumably with the poison she will use on her children.