Pen and ink drawing of a partly nude woman on a couch with a serpent coiled around her, watched by robed figures at right.

Olympias, Mother of Alexander, Visited by Zeus as a Serpent

A pen and brown ink drawing with grayish-green wash shows a partly nude woman reclining on a draped couch while a large serpent coils around her body and head. Robed onlookers at right watch beside a stepped platform, with curtains hung behind the scene.

Artist: Andrea Boscoli
Date: 1595/99
Medium: Pen and brown ink, with brush and grayish-green wash, on ivory laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
Source: Art Institute of Chicago
Size: 1686 × 1224 px

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Public domain · Art Institute of Chicago releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1599).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Art Institute of Chicago, is_public_domain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection

16th century pen and ink drawing mythology old master drawing serpent italian drawing reclining nude curtain brown ink wash alexander the great