Snakes Attacking a Man and a Woman
Pfarrkirche St. Peter (Evangelical), Bacharach, Germany
The two images are on the left and right pillars at the entry to a small bay left of the main altar. At first glance they strike one as Adam and Eve, and such they may be. But the male figure is not naked, as Adam would be. The figures may be intended as reminders of the many references in scripture to serpents as punishment for sinners:
Mark 9:43,45,47 Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not extinguished…
Is 66:24 And they shall go out and see the carcasses of men that have transgressed against me; their worm dieth not and the fire is not extinguished; and they shall be loathesome to all flesh.
Sirach 7:19b The vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms.
Judith 16:21 "For he will give fire, and worms into their flesh, that they may burn, and may feel for ever."
Alternatively, or perhaps supplementally, the two figures may represent St. Christina and the sorcerer who loosed serpents upon her. They attacked her breasts, but she prayed for deliverance and God had the serpents turn on the sorcerer and kill him.
Read more about images of St. Christina and of Adam and Eve
Photographed at the site by Claire and Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.