The artwork titled “Flowers fall and the head of a python appears (plate 5)” was crafted by artist Odilon Redon in 1896. It employs the medium of lithography on paper to express its thematic content. As part of the Symbolism art movement, this piece is characterized as a symbolic painting within a series known as “The Temptation of Saint Anthony.”
The artwork displays a peculiar and enigmatic scene that plays with surreal and symbolic elements. It features a large, detached limb, resembling that of a human or perhaps that of a saint—the individual toes are articulate and possess a life-like quality, imbuing the composition with a sense of detached human presence. A python’s head emerges near the limb, its scaly body implied by the textural qualities of the lithographic technique. The title and the visual cues lead one to believe that flowers, once present, have given way to reveal this ominous serpent. The setting is enveloped in darkness, amplifying the sense of mystery and concealed meanings. The artwork’s atmosphere confronts viewers with the interplay between the material and the spiritual, encouraging contemplation of the transient and transformative nature of reality. The foreboding scene possibly alludes to the narrative of Saint Anthony’s temptation, reinforcing the underlying themes of struggle between purity and sin, as well as the ephemeral versus the eternal.
