Market Visual Awareness Report: Cultural Communication.Visual,historical and cultural analysis. (Task 2b)

Broader Cultural Context of Snake Skin Print

Arguably, the use of snakeskin has been known to date all the way back to before Christ (BC) during the Ancient Egypt era when “women (were) believed to have worn live snakes around their necks” as a fashion conscious statement to show that they were from the upper class. Also, an era in history when Cleopatra was mythically believed to have been killed by the bite of an asp snake. Historically, if we study the use of the snake even more in depth and go further back in time, biblically, the snake played a huge role in the severe consequences of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden when the world first began and ever since, has been a reptile we associate with cunning, sinful and malicious behaviour. Other contextual stories surrounding the snake can also arguably be seen as references which have contributed to the popularity and recognition that the print has within modern day fashion today such as the tale of Medusa. Furthermore, the use of the print during the 20th century offers a context that symbolises an experiment with style, sub-cultures and a person's rebellious identity, which after the sixties was not a thing which was too condemned any more.

In this section, I have shared with you many of the cultural, historical and social examples of snakeskin print that I could find. I also intend to narrow my examples down to just three cultural references to then unpack and discuss the fundamental values each image has and what they represent.

Historical/Biblical

'Join or Die' a political cartoon created by Benjamin Franklin 1754

Adam and Eve

'Eve, the Serpent and Death' by the German Renaissance artist, Hans Baldung

early 1510s-1520.

https://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?mkey=9023

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling 'The Expulsion of Adam and Eve' 1508 and 1512

http://www.itats.org/adam-and-eve-expulsions/

'Eve Tempted by the Serpent' Blake William 1799-1800

Source: Victoria and Albert Museum

Tempera painting, Great Britain, UK

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O80678/eve-tempted-by-the-serpent-tempera-painting-blake-william/

Adam and Eve by Salvadore Dali (conceived in 1968, first cast in 1984)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/411023903469031521/

http://www.dalisculpturecollection.com/museum#ref-16--Adam and Eve

Medusa

Medusa by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio 1597

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/25/art

Medusa's Head, a Flemish painter, ca. 1600, Uffizi Gallery

http://indulgy.com/post/WKhvBJ9jf1/medusas-head-a-flemish-painter-ca-uffizi-gallery

The Head of Medusa, 1617-1618 by Peter Paul Rubens

http://www.peterpaulrubens.net/the-head-of-medusa.jsp

Medusa sculpture in Parco della Villa Borghese, Rome Italy

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/24910604162262276/

Medusa and Terra by Paul Ehlen

http://artsynature.com/artists/paul-ehlen-original-sculptures/

Perseus with the Head of Medusa made by Benvenuto Cellini in 1545

Location: Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy