Cameo with Medusa Head, 1st Cent. after Christ
An ancient cameo of Medusa was set in the left-hand side of the removable trapezoidal panel on the front of the shrine sometime around 1200. In Greek mythology, anyone who looked at the head of Medusa would turn to stone. Such legends were well known in the Middle Ages. The cameo of Medusa was attached to the front end of the shrine for the same reason that images of demons were often depicted on the west end of medieval churches to symbolise that evil had been vanquished by the Christian Church and could not, therefore, access the church building.
