An interesting comparison, but, if you stick your nose right on the VMs image, you can see where the obscuring red paint is mostly localized to the front, while on the side there are sections where parchment shows through. So it's difficult to support a claim that there are any snakes hiding there. When is a crown just a crown?
Heraldry has a whole system of different crowns for kings and queens and nobles of various ranks. I can't say if there is a better match, but potential contemporary (1400s) comparisons would seem to be more logical than sources from a millennium plus earlier.
Let's say the Cleopatra comparison is a good one. What is Cleopatra doing in the VMs? And how is that identification any better than that of the Fieschi popes?
Heraldry has a whole system of different crowns for kings and queens and nobles of various ranks. I can't say if there is a better match, but potential contemporary (1400s) comparisons would seem to be more logical than sources from a millennium plus earlier.
Let's say the Cleopatra comparison is a good one. What is Cleopatra doing in the VMs? And how is that identification any better than that of the Fieschi popes?