In the biblical Books of Kings, the Nehushtan is the bronze image of a serpent on a pole. The image is described in the Book of Numbers, where Yahweh instructed Moses to erect it so that the Israelites who saw it would be cured and be protected from dying from the bites of the "fiery serpents", which Yahweh had sent to punish them for speaking against Him and Moses.
Moses lifts up the brass snake in a photograph of the stained glass window at St Marks Church, Gillingham
The Brazen Serpent (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan has a Roman column and, on top of it, a bronze serpent donated by emperor Basil II in 1007. It may be the origin of the biscione/bissa symbol of Milan.
A modern monument of the bronze serpent (which Moses erected in the Negev desert) on Mount Nebo, in front of the church of Saint Moses (2018).
The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
Solomon greeting the Queen of Sheba – gate of Florence Baptistry
Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630.
James Tissot, The Flight of the Prisoners – the fall of Jerusalem, 586 BC
