Plate 149: Aesculapius as a Serpent, Among the Romans (AEsculapius in anguem conversus Roman advehitur), from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' 1606

Antonio Tempesta created this engraving of Aesculapius as a Serpent among the Romans, drawn from Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses.' Published in the late 16th century, the print reflects the resurgence of classical themes during the Renaissance, but it also speaks to the fraught relationship between humanism and religious authority during the Counter-Reformation. The image draws on classical mythology to explore themes of healing and divine intervention, but it does so in a visual language that is distinctly early modern. The cultural context of the print is also important. Italy was a centre of artistic and intellectual innovation, but it was also a place of intense religious and political conflict. The Catholic Church sought to regulate artistic production and suppress ideas, but artists like Tempesta found ways to express themselves within these constraints. To understand the print more fully, we need to examine its historical context, its visual language, and its relationship to the institutions of art and power.