Boitatá, 2025, watercolor on paper, 22.5 x 16.5 in. / 57.15 x 42 cm.

Boitatá, Taina Cintra Mattiazzi, 2025, watercolor on paper, 22.5 x 16.5 in. / 57.15 x 42 cm.

The “boitatá” is a Brazilian folklore tale of a large snake that ate the eyes of those who died in a great flood during one eternal night. It ate so many eyes that it began to glow, for it is said that the last light one sees in life is held in their eyes, thus gaining its name of snake of fire