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The uroboros was resurrected in western iconography with the discovery of a late antique treatise, Horapollon's Hieroglyphica. When a Greek manuscript of Horpollon's text was discovered on the island of Andros in 1419 and then translated into other languages during the sixteenth century (such as the French edition here), the symbols within the text had become popular in art and literature throughout western Europe, such as in the painting to the left. The second entry of the book describes the uroboros as a symbol of "the universe:" "When they wish to depict the Universe, they draw a serpent devouring its own tail, marked with variegated scales. By the scales they suggest the stars in the heavens." (trans. G. Boas)

Date

1543

Dimensions

H. 17.3, W. 11.1 cm

Artist or Author

Horapollon

Museum

Beinecke Rare Book Library

Accession Number

Gfh93 Bh543