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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1906.7
Title
Statue of Asklepios Standing, with the Left Hand Extended, copy after a Hellenistic original
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statue
Date
150 CE
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/292447

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Greek mainland marble
Dimensions
actual: 103 cm (40 9/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Rupert Norton
Accession Year
1906
Object Number
1906.7
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums , written 1990
51

Statue of Asklepios Standing, with the Left Hand Extended

Roman copy of Hellenistic original, A.D. 150.
Greek mainland marble, H. (as restored) 1.03 m, H. (of ancient torso) 0.70 m

The statue was reassembled from many parts. A drill was used in the hair and beard. Only the torso form the neck to the ankles is ancient.

The statue is a Roman copy of a standard Hellenistic Asklepios, like the cult images from Pergamon. The torso was restored in the seventeenth century to create a thoroughly Italian Baroque image of the god of medicine, replete with a scroll in the lowered, extended left hand. A puntello on the drapery above the left thigh suggests this hand originally held the snake-entwined staff.

Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer

Publication History

  • Cornelius C. Vermeule III and Amy Brauer, Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 69, no. 51

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu