The Glass Snake (Anguis ventralis)

published 1731-1743

Mark Catesby

Associated Names
Mark Catesby

Artist, English, 1679 - 1749

In this print, a long, slender, dark snake with white speckles and a bright yellow line running down its side is coiled in a loose S-shape over a pink flower with drooping petals and a brown conical center. The snake's head is on the right, past the flower, while its body extends to the left, its tail curving toward the bottom left corner. It has small brown eyes and an outstretched pink tongue. The pink flower stands lightly to the right of center, and it has a green stem and green leaves at its base. The background of the print is beige paper, and the snake seems to cast a shadow on the paper below it.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving with hand coloring on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green

  • Dimensions

    plate: 24.9 x 34.4 cm (9 13/16 x 13 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 37 x 53.8 cm (14 9/16 x 21 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.163.66

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Natural History, Vol. vol.2, no. 59

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green, Virginia; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1771

  • Catesby, Mark. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. London: 1771.

Inscriptions

lower right in plate: MC; lower right in plate: Chrysanthemum.; lower left in plate: Caecilia Maculata.; upper right in plate: 59

Watermarks

GR with shield

Wikidata ID

Q74894957

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