Perseus and Medusa

The original copy of Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa (1553) can be found in Florence and was sculpted for the Duke of Tuscany - a friend of the Duke of Sutherland. Trentham became home to the only copy of this sculpture in 1847. It cost a total of £1,600 – which would be worth £167,000 today!

After a short stay at Sutton Place, Surrey when the Estate was sold, it returned in 1966 when it was restored by the Countess of Sutherland. It was later restored again in 2004. The statue has also visited London’s Royal Academy of Art where it was displayed for a short period in 2012.

You can see an early photograph of Perseus below – can you spot the old camera in the photograph and the lady standing on the steps in white?