Ancient Roman Harnassed Snake Fragment

Rarely in the art-historical context we come to deal with such a curious piece with an equally intriguing background. At first glance, this sculptural element does not seem to resemble anything immediately identifiable, and in fact, it can justifiably be counted as a unicum in the roman art scene, yet it conceals aspects that allow for extensive investigation into Greek myth and archaic cults. The material of composition is a white marble with a relatively fine grain, probably either a Pentelic if of Greek origin or a Lunense if Italian.

There are laces of the so-called caestus. They look like harnesses, a yoke or a bridle of a certain complexity. Furthermore, the other elements present suggest that the fragment might be the body of a large snake. We note three main renditions, one with scales for the back, a second with undulating grooves for the belly and finally the anthropic elements. The artistic characterisation of the belly, when placed in a polychrome context, is extremely relevant to the world of reptiles. Similar details - such as black spots forming a wave pattern - are not extraneous to the anatomy of snakes of the colubrid family. The laces and bands of various shapes and fine workmanship - including a belt with a buckle on the back - indicate the importance of what was harnessed. On the back a slight arching is perceptible, an element that reveals the evident presence of a backbone.

Some intriguing technical elements are given by the presence of slight gradine chisel marks on the upper portion of the belly, on a small part of the upper back and on an abundant half of the right flank. These are all clearly unfinished areas, in which both the belly and back scales are not present, leading us to state that the work, caestus - unlikely - or snake torso - likely - that it is, was not completed for unknown reasons.

The presence of harnesses on a snake immediately leads us to the myth of Demeter and Persephone Kore, the latter's abduction and the birth of the mystery cult of Eleusis. The chariot of the matron goddess of agriculture and the harvest was drawn by two serpents, in the myths reported as dragons - ????????? -, artistically represented as reptiles without legs - often with crests and wattles - but sometimes provided with wings. There are many sarcophagi depicting Demeter on the chariot drawn by two serpents in search of her daughter - abducted by Hades, king of the Underworld -, but this vehicle is not an attribute that can be associated solely with the Great Mother. Triptolemus, son of the king of Eleusis, was given an identical - if not the same - chariot by Demeter in order to instruct the peoples of the world on how to cultivate, thus becoming its emissary and laying the ancestral foundations - although not of real establishment - for the famous initiatory cult already mentioned, a mystical reality adhered to in historical times by illustrious figures such as the emperors Augustus , Hadrian and many others. An excellent summary of the myth is provided by Pseudo-Hyginus - Fabulae 147 -:
“When Demeter was hunting for her daughter, she came to King Eleusinus, whose wife Cothonea had borne the boy Triptolemus… On Triptolemus she [Demeter] conferred everlasting honour, for she gave him her chariot yoked with Serpents to spread the cultivation of grain. Riding in it he sowed grain throughout the earth. When he returned, Celeus bade him be killed for his benefactions, but when this was known, by Ceres' order he gave the kingdom to Triptolemus, who called it Eleusis from his father's name. He also established sacred rites in honour of Ceres, which hare called in Greek Thesmophoria”.

Elements appear that are immediately identifiable in the piece in question: the scales and the yokes. The wings have evidently not survived, but their previous presence cannot be excluded. Further artistic parallels can be made if we examine the glyptic sphere. In a splendid sardonyx cameo from the mid 1st century AD, we find two figures - Demeter and Triptolemus - on a chariot pulled by winged serpents. The jewel in question - which was also owned by Louis XIV -, now housed in the Cabinet des Médailles, is said to represent Claudius and his wife Messalina - or perhaps Agrippina the Younger - in their respective and divine roles mentioned above. The Emperor scatters seeds through his paludamentum, while his consort, with wheat ears and poppy bulbs on her left, leans forward inciting the two large winged reptiles.

There can therefore be no doubt as to what the marble element presented here represents, but the question of its context, both mythological and pragmatic use, remains open. Indeed, this last point lends itself well to numerous possible conjectures. What is clear is that a sculptural fragment of this type is of a quite unique importance in the antiquarian scenario, as there is no serpentiform find with a yoke in any public collection, without of course considering the decorative elements of bas-reliefs found on sarcophagi. In this case we are talking about a fragment with a very important spatial independence, with well-defined and unfinished traces of workmanship, which makes it art-historically and stylistically unique.