Medusa Smile

Around 1860 Japan was in turmoil about whether or not the country should engage in trade with the West. In 1863 insurgents – advocates of an isolationist policy – fired on western ...

This mythical creature, a symbol of earthly divinity and heavenly power, has the body and legs of a lion, the chest and wings of a bird, and the head of a woman. Her long hair is h...