Which pendentive scene shows the bronze serpent?

The pendentive scene showing the bronze serpent is The Brazen Serpent.

The episode comes from the Book of Numbers, in which Israelites are afflicted by poisonous snakes after rebelling during their wilderness journey. God instructs Moses to make a serpent and raise it on a pole; those who look at it are healed. Michelangelo placed this dramatic rescue among four corner scenes depicting miraculous salvation from the Old Testament.

The other pendentive scenes are David and Goliath, Judith and Holofernes, and The Punishment of Haman. A common mix-up is calling Michelangelo’s scene simply “Moses and the Serpent” or confusing it with later Christian interpretations of the bronze serpent. Its significance also extends beyond the ceiling: the Gospel of John treats the raised serpent as a foreshadowing of Christ’s crucifixion.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512 for Pope Julius II. The corner scenes are technically doubled spandrels, although “pendentives” is the familiar quiz and museum term.