A Savage mounted on a winged Serpent battling with a wild beast resembling a Porcupine

1769

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

A Savage mounted on a winged Serpent battling with a wild beast resembling a Porcupine is a 1769 by Filippo Morghen, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Filippo Morghen
When & what style?: 1769 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A man rides a winged serpent, fighting a beast that looks like a giant porcupine. The scene is wild and imaginary, full of sharp claws and fierce motion. This image is one of ten etchings by Filippo Morghen, made around 1769. It shows a made-up world on the moon, where people ride birds and use huge pumpkins as boats. The drawing uses fine lines to show texture and depth, common in 18th-century printmaking. Morghen imagined moon creatures with strange tools and animals, reflecting the era’s fascination with fantasy and science. Look up The Cleveland Museum of Art to explore more prints from this series. (98 words)

The story of this work

Overview

Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European…