Capital which is part of the Zodiac Gate, Sacra of Saint Michael, near Sant’Ambrogio, Turin, Italy, dating to the XII century. The sculpture shows a woman suckling two serpents, an iconographic pattern recurrent in medieval art, which seems to be interpreted as a representation of the Earth (Davy 1988: p. 167). In this case, the art of the Middle Ages perpetuates a series of symbols that were diffused in the Ancient World: the Earth represented as a female being, with a motherly attitude, and associated with serpents, chthonic creatures.

[Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacra_di_San_Michele_-_Particolare_porta_dello_zodiaco_02.jpg]