Serpiente de cascabel

The snake had different supernatural symbolic associations in the Mexica worldview. Its undulating and fast movements used to relate its image with the running water, with blood and with lightning, for which it was considered a symbol of fertility. The typical change of skin in this reptile worked as a metaphor of renewal and transformation. It was regarded as a sacred animal that was represented in different positions and materials. This sculpture represents the ventral section of a rattlesnake (Crotalus) carved with great mastery in greenstone. The artist worked the scales in a very realistic way in superimposed plaques and the rattles of the tail that these types of snakes shake to make noise in order to scare away their predators. Arqlga. Bertina Olmedo Vera