# Mortuary Figure of the Zodiac Sign: Serpent (Virgo)

- Date: 500s
- Medium: gray earthenware with traces of slip
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)
- Culture: China, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534)
- Credit line: The Norweb Collection
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.76.6)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.76.6/1972.76.6_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The twelve-animal zodiac series—rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar—signifies a traditional Chinese concept of time structured in a cyclical order. The twelve animals are also linked to the art of fortunetelling that underlies human existence in connection with the changes of the universe. The use of the twelve zodiac animals as tomb furniture suggests they provided a cosmological structure for the afterlife.