盘绕的蛇 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	盘绕的蛇
品名（英）	Coiled Serpent
入馆年号	1900年，00.5.32
策展部门	迈克尔·洛克菲勒之翼（The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing）
创作者
创作年份	公元 1400 - 公元 1550
创作地区	墨西哥（Mexico）
分类	石雕（Stone-Sculpture）
尺寸	高 11 1/4 × 宽 10 3/4 × 深 11 1/2 英寸 (28.6 × 27.3 × 29.2 厘米)
介绍（中）	蛇在古墨西哥许多民族的信仰体系中占有重要地位，是艺术中最常描绘的动物。蛇有多种含义，并激发了天空和地球的意象。最重要的是，它们是生育能力的象征，可能是由它们的陆地栖息地和周期性的皮肤脱落所暗示的。在阿兹特克帝国首都特诺奇蒂特兰的主神庙，对蛇的描绘激增：巨大的蛇头，可能代表不同的物种，张开尖牙的嘴和分叉的舌头位于通往圣地的火盆和楼梯两侧。据说，在西班牙征服时，这座寺庙被蛇墙（Coatepantli）包围，蛇墙由数百尊相邻的蛇雕塑组成。在三维石雕中，蛇最常见的是盘绕或打结，如本例所示。这种爬行动物的身体是由一块多孔的石头雕刻而成的，是一个紧紧缠绕的结；在一侧可以看到尾部有两个浅浮雕的嘎嘎声。它扁平的头部从顶部缠结的身体中露出，有一个尖而闭合的嘴，在球状的眶上嵴下有凹陷的椭圆形眼睛。这个蛇雕塑的功能尚不确定。
介绍（英）	Serpents held an important place in the belief systems of many peoples in ancient Mexico and they are the most frequently portrayed animals in art. Serpents had multiple connotations and inspired sky and earth imagery alike. Above all, they were fertility symbols, probably suggested by their terrestrial habitat and periodic skin shedding. At the Main Temple in the Aztec imperial capital Tenochtitlan, serpent depictions proliferate: monumental snake heads, probably representing different species—with open fanged mouths and forked tongues—flank braziers and stairways leading to the sanctuaries. The temple itself is said to have been surrounded at the time of the Spanish conquest by a serpent wall, or Coatepantli, formed by hundreds of adjoining sculptures of snakes. In three-dimensional stone sculpture, serpents are most frequently shown coiled or knotted, as in this example. Carved from a porous stone, the body of the reptile is a tightly wound knot; the tail end with two rattles in shallow relief is visible on one side. Its flattened head, emerging from the tangled body at the top, has a pointed, closed mouth, and sunken oval eyes under bulbous supraorbital ridges. The function of this snake sculpture is uncertain.