Cleveland Museum of Art

Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Serpent (Virgo)

Date: 500s
Medium: gray earthenware with traces of slip
Culture: China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
Department: Chinese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortunetelling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.

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