THE SNAKE AND THE BUTTERFLY

Found on a grave from the 1850s in the Alter Friedhof (old cemetery) in Darmstadt, Germany. The symbol of the snake devouring its own tail represents cyclicality, unity, or infinity, and it can often be found on classical graves. In the romantic period, the butterfly was a sign of the hope of resurrection (larva, pupa, butterfly), it also represented the soul freed from all material.