Koning Hizkia

The biblical king stands centrally, dressed in highly decorative armor and a jeweled turban, using his hands to snap a thick, scaly serpent. At his feet lie the shattered fragments of stone statues, representing the idols he removed from the temple. The background shows a sprawling landscape with a fortified city on a distant hill.

Hezekiah’s destruction of the Nehushtan represents a pivotal moment in the history of sacred objects, where a talisman originally created by Moses for healing was destroyed to prevent its worship as an idol. This act of purification was a major theme in Renaissance and Reformation-era thought concerning the distinction between legitimate spiritual symbols and forbidden magic or idolatry.