I don't usually give a lot of background information on my pieces, and truth be told, most of the time there isn't much anyway. It's typically the image itself that interests me, and people are free to interpret that image as they like. But this piece was a little different in that it's based on a pre-existing piece of art so I thought I'd give you the basics.

This piece is based on a small statue found by Sir Arthur Evans at the ruins of Knossos on the island of Crete in 1903. At the time of the statue's creation, about 1600 BCE, Crete was home to the Minoan civilization, and researchers believe that their culture was dominated by women. (A fact which =elle-chan should enjoy! ) We know it as the "Snake Goddess" but when Evans found it, he identified it as one of her votaries, or priestesses. The true Snake Goddess, he claimed, was represented by a different statue; one with a tall, cylindrical headdress and several snakes coiling around her body.

Both the Snake Goddess and Votary statues were missing parts when they were discovered, and it's debated whether the crown topped with the cat figurine was even a part of the Votary statue in the first place.

Due to the lack of historical records, much of what archaeologists know of the "Snake Goddess" is conjecture. If you're an ancient history nerd like me, you'll find it interesting too, and if not, well.....just stare at the picture.