Serpentarium Mundi

Serpentarium Mundi (www.serpentarium.org) is a specialized digital iconography compendium dedicated to a ubiquitous artistic subject: the snake (serpent) and its manifold derivatives (e.g. composite creatures). It catalogues representations of real and imaginary ophiomorphs and their collaterals (e.g. other reptiles) in the visual arts of Old World civilizations from 3000 BC to 650 AD. Current serpent-related research tends to focus on the documentation and analysis of literary sources, while largely avoiding a comprehensive and systematic look at the iconographic material or using it merely as an illustrative auxiliary. The project seeks to rectify this literature-vs.-iconography imbalance and provide a significant content contribution.