The evil eye. An account of this ancient and wide spread superstition

198 THE EVIL EYE chap.
On p. 44 Wiener gives a plate showing the in-
terior of a tomb. Above the group of figures and
utensils it contains, is fixed, near the apex of the
roof, a large mask with immense horns. This is
evidently an amulet to protect the dead.
Fig. 76 is a horned Medusa from the bust of one
of the Emperors, in the Doria Gallery in Rome,
showing that, in the time of the Empire, horns had
been applied to the Medusa, in
addition to the retention of her
hideousness. These examples are
sufficient to show that in all parts
of the world not only is the Bhavani-
Gorgoneion used as an amulet, but
to add to its power, horns have been
Fig. 76. . .
1 1
given to It; whether or not these
are to replace the snakes does not appear. ^""^ Later
we shall show how the horns of the crescent are re-
presented by a snake, thus combining the efficacy of
two separate symbols into one powerful charm. Not
only is the horn found upon the head of the dead
Medusa, but in many places upon the head of the
living man. In the many passages of Scripture,
where it is mentioned, the horn seems to have become
the emblem of dignity and honour, though it may
originally have been adopted as an amulet.^""" There
is some reason for this suggestion from the analogy
328 Later developments of the Medusa show it with wings, while the
snakes are conventionalised into curls. Such is the face in the well-known
triskelion of Sicily, of which Fig. 133 is a good representation. We cannot
help noticing the strange coincidence of the winged face of tlie Medusa with
those winged faces called "cherubs" so very commonly seen on funereal
monuments of the last century, and as attending in crowds the Madonna
Immaculata, when standing on her crescent, especially in Murillo's pictures
called vaporosas.
32(in jn iiton Church, Somerset, is the figure of a " horned " lady, of whom
a print will be found in Som. and Dor. A^o/t's and Qiie?-ies, December 1S94.