“Medea” is a marble sculpture carved by William Wetmore Story around 1868-1880. The sculpture is 195.6 x 68.6 x 67.3 cm, weighs 1134 kg, and is mounted on a rolling steel base with 3/4” thick painted wooden skirts. It depicts the Greek mythological figure Medea, who murdered her two children to punish her husband Jason, who unfaithfully married princess Glauce in order to selfishly gain social power. Today, Medea is regarded as a symbol of power, jealousy, female rage, and revenge. As such, Story chose to depict one of her most climactic moments, where, blinded by rage and jealousy, Medea considers filicide for revenge. This is evident in how she stands in a contemplative and strong pose with a serious, heavy facial expression, holding a dagger with one hand and bringing the other close to her head in deep thought.

William Wetmore Story was a lawyer, American sculptor, art critic, poet, and editor who was born in 1819 in Salem, MA. After earning a law degree at Harvard, Story was commissioned to design a memorial statue of his father in 1846 despite never receiving formal art instruction and always considering art as a hobby. Subsequently, he went to Italy to study sculpture. Around 1856, Story shifted from law to sculpting and opened his own studio in Rome. During the 1860s, the subjects of his work were mostly biblical and literary characters from Greek tragedies. In 1895, Story passed in Vallombrosa, Italy.