Snake in a Crypt: An Oil Painting of Shadows

An oil painting on canvas in Baroque style depicting a vivid emerald-green snake coiled around a weathered limestone sarcophagus inside a dim crypt. Warm candlelight from wall torches throws dramatic chiaroscuro, highlighting the serpent's iridescent scales and amber eyes while deep shadows swallow the stone arches and damp moss. The crypt is lined with niches containing faded skulls and skeletal remains; arched vaults loom above. The snake, tongue flicking, appears to guard ancient inscriptions carved on the sarcophagus. Thick brushwork with visible impasto and glaze layers gives a luminous varnish sheen, creating a moody, reverent, slightly ominous atmosphere.