Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Coiling around the wearer’s arms, these gold snakes capture the gliding, sensuous, and sinister nature of the creature which has held an age-old fascination for mankind. While our specific pair originated in Egypt, these reptiles continue a tradition of bracelets in the form of snakes which in Greece began already in the Archaic period with bronze and silver examples.

This different species of snake and its lively depiction result from a new aesthetic in Hellenistic times, as serpents and all creatures in general were observed more closely. The artist has downplayed their fierceness and created naturalistic, but arresting and aesthetically convincing images of these mythic reptiles. For their Egyptian wearer, the snakes most likely had amuletic, healing, or other religious meanings.