Man Entwined by Two Snakes
1527
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Il Pordenone
Pordenone, Il Pordenone in Italian, is the byname of Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis (c.
See the richer artist page1527
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Man Entwined by Two Snakes is a 1527 by Il Pordenone, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man twists in pain, wrapped tight by two thick snakes. His muscles strain, veins bulge, and his face shows fear. This isn’t just any snake attack—it’s a nod to a famous ancient sculpture dug up in Rome in 1506. The original showed a Trojan priest and his sons dying the same way. Artists all over Italy copied it, but here, the artist zoomed in on just one figure, making the struggle feel more personal. To see how others handled the same story, look up *Italy, 16th century* paintings.
According to contemporary accounts, Michelangelo attended the excavation of the Greek sculpture Laocoön and His Sons when it was unearthed near Rome in 1506. Laocoön was a Trojan priest who, along with his two sons, was attacked by sea serpents sent by the goddess Athena. The emotional agony of the sculpture fascinated Michelangelo and artists throughout Italy, inspiring copies and variations. In this drawing, a northern Italian artist referenced just one figure from the story using the chiaroscuro technique—achieved here with dark and light inks on blue toned paper—to emphasize the…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Pordenone, Il Pordenone in Italian, is the byname of Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis (c.
See the richer artist page
