Lilith by John Collier: The First Woman and the Serpent (1889)
She does not look at you. She looks at the snake. A pale nude figure stands against a dark green thicket, her long golden hair falling over her shoulders, while a huge serpent coils around her body from ankle to throat and rests its head on her shoulder. John Collier's Lilith (1889) turns the first woman of Jewish legend, Adam's rebellious first wife, into one of the most memorable images of late Victorian painting. It hangs today in the Atkinson Art Gallery in Southport, on the north-west coast of England. John Collier, Lilith, 1889. Oil on canvas. The Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport. Image via the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get this painting as a print → Quick facts Artist: John Collier (1850–1934) Date: 1889 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 194 × 104 cm Collection: The Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport (transferred from Bootle Art Gallery in the 1970s) Notable fact: Collier's Lilith embraces the serpent of Eden, merging two figures that legend had long link...