Miracle of the Serpents
Serpents appear in Kiefer’s work in many forms and reference a variety of meanings. Miracle of the Serpents borrows from Exodus (7:10–12), wherein Moses, Aaron, and the pharaoh’s sorcerers do battle. The central image at the top—a cutout photograph of an Art Deco light fixture from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station—seems to stand as a futuristic manifestation of heavenly presence.
Artwork Details
- Title: Miracle of the Serpents
- Artist: Anselm Kiefer (German, born Donaueschingen, 1945)
- Date: 1985
- Medium: Torn and pasted photographs and shellac on photograph
- Dimensions: 26 1/2 x 23 in. (67.3 x 58.4 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995
- Object Number: 1995.14.38
- Rights and Reproduction: © Anselm Kiefer
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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