The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

A horizontally oriented etching in black ink depicts a mythical figure astride a winged serpent. The serpent has spotted wings and a long tail sweeping left. The rider aims a three-pronged spear toward a spiky animal on the right. Below, jagged rocky outcrops and white waterfalls pour forth amidst dense leafy vegetation. Fine lines and hatching define the composition on light paper. "Nº 1" is inscribed in the upper right.

A Savage mounted on a winged Serpent battling with a wild beast resembling a Porcupine

about 1769

Filippo Morghen

(Italian, 1730–after 1807)

possibly after Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Hoüel

(French, 1735–1813)
Italy
etching
Image and Plate: 27.9 x 38.6 cm (11 x 15 3/16 in.); Sheet: 42 x 53 cm (16 9/16 x 20 7/8 in.)
Purchased with funds from the Estate of Muriel Butkin 2023.19.2
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Morghen based this print series on three books dedicated to moon exploration, including Bishop Francis Godwin’s The Man in the Moone (1640).

Description

Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European interpretations of Asian, Ottoman, and Native American cultures—called chinoiserie and turquerie—that permeated the decorative and visual arts of the period.
  • ?–2022
    with Benjamin Spademan Rare Books, London, England
    2022–23
    (Hill-Stone, Inc., South Dartmouth, MA, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    March 6, 2023–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • McColley, Grant, “The Three Editions of Filippo Morghen’s Raccolta,” The Art Bulletin (Mar., 1937). Vol. 19, No. 1: pp. 112-118.
    Jenkins, Ian and Kim Sloan. Vases and Volcanoes. Sir William Hamilton and His Collection. London: British Museum Press, 1996. cat. 41, p. 163.
    Guthke, S. Karl, “Nightmare and Utopia: Extraterrestrial Worlds from Galileo to Goethe,” Early Science and Medicine 2003. Vol. 8, No. 3: pp. 173-195, see p. 192-193.
  • Imagination in the Age of Reason. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 28, 2024-March 2, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=A Savage mounted on a winged Serpent battling with a wild beast resembling a Porcupine|url=false|author=Filippo Morghen, Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Hoüel|year=about 1769|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.19.2