Classical Revival Snake Brooch

Designed by Michaengelo Caetani

Castellani and Sons, Rome

22-carat Gold

The legend, "Latet angulus in herba," which literally translates as "Danger hides in the grass," has the sense, as Stephanie Walker has pointed out, of "Danger lurks everywhere" -- here possibly a reference to Papal spies and the dangers of those seeking Italian liberty and reunification.

Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, Rome

I would like to thank Susan Weber Soros, Director of the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, which holds copyright on this image, and the owners of the original object, for sharing this image with the Victorian Web.