NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A new statue of Medusa that honors the #MeToo movement now stands outside the Manhattan courthouse where Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape.
Argentine-Italian artist Luciano Garbati’s “Medusa With the Head of Perseus” was unveiled outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday. The bronze statue will stay in Collect Pond Park through April 2021.
The statue depicts Medusa holding the head of Perseus in one hand and a sword in the other—a reverse telling of the story in Greek mythology.
In the story, Medusa was raped by Poseidon. But instead of punishing Poseidon, Athena blamed Medusa, turning her into a monster with snakes for hair and a stare that could turn men to stone. Medusa was then killed and beheaded by Perseus.
“She is alive after the battle with Perseus and that is significant,” Garbati told the New York Post of the statue. “According to the myth, she should be the one dead and beheaded. That’s the most important thing you can say about this sculpture but also that she has defended her life and set a boundary.”
A press release for the statue called it an "icon of justice" that stood across the street from "the location of high profile abuse cases including the recent Harvey Weinstein trial."
“I like how it’s kind of the reverse,” said a girl who visited the statue on Tuesday. “And I think maybe that’s how it should be, because she’s the victim, she’s not the monster.”