The Snake Charmer (Rousseau)
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| The Snake Charmer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Henri Rousseau |
| Year | 1907 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 169 cm × 189.5 cm (67 in × 74.6 in) |
| Location | Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
The Snake Charmer (French: La Charmeuse de Serpents) is a 1907 oil-on-canvas painting by French Naïve artist Henri Rousseau (1844–1910). It is a depiction of a woman with glowing eyes playing a flute in the moonlight by the edge of a dark jungle with a snake extending toward her from a nearby tree, two near her legs, and one wrapped around her shoulders.
The Snake Charmer was commissioned by Berthe, Comtesse de Delaunay, the mother of artist Robert Delaunay. It was Rousseau's first large commission and was exhibited in the 1907 Autumn Salon.[1][2] Because Rousseau never traveled outside of France, the exotic plants in the painting resulted from Rousseau's visits to the Jardin des plantes and from magazines.[3] From 1922 to 1936, The Snake Charmer was in the collection of Jacques Doucet. It was promised to the Louvre in 1925 and became part of its collection in 1937.[4][5]
