This eleventh-century French illumination of Moses and the bronze serpent reveals how often our visual imaginations influence our reading of the Bible. As we look to the serpent on top of the pole, we would not be mistaken in interpreting the artist’s work as some sort of dragon. Did the artist misunderstand the biblical story? Yet a brief look into serpent iconography reveals that the most common images of snakes in the ancient world were depicted with two or more wings.

In the ancient near East, serpents were considered magical winged creatures that contained extraordinary power. Egypt was the home of serpent images, charms, and iconography. On the throne of Tutankhamen, we find two wings of a four-winged snake projecting outward from the back of the seat as if flanking and protecting the king on both sides. The erect, coiled cobra was the symbol of Egyptian royalty and we recall Moses’s own confrontation with the magicians of Egypt when their staffs turned into serpents and Aaron’s staff devoured them all (Exodus 7:9–12).

The bronze serpent is elevated centrally in the illumination as if we, like the Israelites, are called to fix our gaze upward upon it. It even protrudes beyond the confines of the frame, suggesting a continuity with our own space and time. Moses stands below with one finger pointed toward the serpent, guiding us to look, whilst his other hand holds the Torah scroll. We note that he is depicted with horns, showing the influence of Jerome’s Latin translation of Moses’s shining face in Exodus 34:29. Jerome rendered the Hebrew qaran (‘shine’) with cornuta (‘horned’), an interpretation whose artistic effects extend all the way to Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome.

To the right of Moses are two men with rosy cheeks, slightly smiling as they obediently look up to the serpent and experience healing. On the left of Moses stands a single man who glares at the prophet with hand outstretched, refusing to cast his glance at the bronze image. He represents those who have rejected God and Moses outright and will die in the wilderness.