Emile-Antoine Bourdelle's doorknocker depicts the Gorgon Medusa, the terrifying female monster with serpents for hair who haunted the early Greeks' imagination. According to myth, Medusa was so ugly that anyone who looked upon her face would turn to stone. The hand that grasps the serpents belongs to Perseus, the legendary Greek hero who defeated Medusa and cut off her head. By raising Medusa's severed head, Perseus was able to entice his enemies to look upon her face and thereby turn them into stone. Bourdelle, who worked with master sculptor Auguste Rodin for many years, developed a highly charged, expressive style, readily apparent in this novel reinterpretation of a popular classical theme.