Produced as part of a series of works on linen paper, Untitled (Serpent) draws inspiration from the Serpentine Column in Sultanahmet Square, or the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The Serpentine Column, originally erected in 479 BC as a trophy at the Apollo Temple in Delphi, was brought to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in the 4th Century. Byzantine and Ottoman historians were unanimous in regarding the Serpentine Column as a talisman protecting the city from snakes. In drawing inspiration from this silent witness of world history for her snake motifs, Nil Yalter also activates the multiple displacements the column has undergone in 2500 years of its history, in the geographical, geological and metaphorical sense. In Yalter’s artistic vocabulary, the snake becomes a talisman, not only of protection, but also of transformation and rebirth, as a being that leaves traces of its skin along its spiraling path, emphasizing its complex mythological meanings encompassing fertility, chaos, and the duality of good and evil. In this sense, as a recurring motif in Yalter’s compositions, Untitled (Serpent) also connects with the spiraling scripts on the female belly in the seminal work Headless Woman or Belly Dance.