A Nehushtan Cross

In Numbers 21:4-9, Moses forges a bronze serpent at the command of God, using it to heal the Israelites from the bites of poisonous snakes which God had sent to punish them. Years later, in 2 Kings 18:4, Israel’s King Hezekiah destroys the bronze serpent after the people began to worship it. In my painted relief of the cross, I conflate the symbol of the serpent with the symbol of the cross, intentionally questioning whether this central image of Christianity has become disassociated from its original purpose, or even repurposed for malevolent ends.