These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.
Download this imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
Snakes and Ladders
Calligrapher: Brown, Denis
Artist's statement: Text is from Leviticus 15. This piece is satire on catholic values of puritanism, playing on the imaginary of the children's board game where ladders carry you onward and upwards but you slip downwards if you land on a snake. Here, I replace the snakes of the board-game with calligraphic sperm cells, which are actually flourished on to the picture glass. The black sperm are depicted with forked tongues and the inclusion of little ladders made of balsa wood completes the reference to the children's game .. A playful work, but with sinister undertones, for it alludes to the numerous sex and paedophile scandals exposed within church hierarchies.
Height: 300 mm
Width: 216 mm
Method of acquisition: Given by Cavendish, Sue
Production date: AD 1998
Support
composed of
paper
( painted; tracing with collaged elements)
Decoration
Accession number: CAL 3-2007
Primary reference Number: 167354
Old object number: Calligraphy/Brown/1
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Manuscripts and Printed Books
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Snakes and Ladders" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/167354 Accessed: 2024-11-14 16:21:05
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/167354
|title=Snakes and Ladders
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-14 16:21:05|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-167354
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center"> <figure class="figure"> <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/msspb/msspb5/CAL_3_2007_.jpg" alt="Snakes and Ladders" class="img-fluid" /> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Snakes and Ladders</figcaption> </figure> </div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...