The Guardian with the Serpent

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This copper-toned armoured guardian sits with legs planted wide on a rocky base. Crowned and glaring, he grips a writhing little serpent hard in his right hand, its body wound around his wrist and its head rearing between his fingers; his left hand is raised at his chest, palm outward, in a gesture about to bark a halt. The armour is densely carved — a round medallion and scale plates overlapping on the chest, a full apron of fish-scale armour at the belly with a beast-face roundel at its centre, and a tightly bound belt. Green-tinged ribbons spiral from his shoulders into tall arcs behind him. Before the seat, two small demons attend him: one kneels clutching his boot, the other grovels face-up. There is theatre inside the menace. It suits an entrance hall or a guardian's place in a shrine, subduing the space at first sight.