CIRCA LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE ASCLEPIUS
CIRCA LATE 2ND CENTURY A.D.
19 ¾ in. (50.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Janko/Yanko Aristarchi (1811-1897), also known as Iohannes Aristarchis, Baghdad and Berlin, Ottoman ambassador to Berlin.
with Alexander Iolas, Athens and New York, acquired between 1950 and 1965, probably in New York or Paris.
Private Collection, Europe, 1980-1982.
The Ophiuchus Collection, New York and London, 1982-2013.
with Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, acquired by 2013 (Ariadne Galleries, 2014, no. 18).
Ancient Marbles: Classical Sculpture and Works of Art, Sotheby's, London, 13 June 2016, lot 23.
with Ariadne Galleries, New York and London.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2017.

Literature

S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. IV, Paris, 1924, p. 535, no. 1.
H. Dorsey, "All that Glitters is Gold," Vogue Magazine, December 1981, p. 296.
C. Picón, Classical Antiquities from Private Collections in Great Britain, London, 1986, p. 41, no. 44, pl. 8.
A. Filges, "Marmorstatuetten aus Kleinasien," Istanbuler Mitteilungen, vol. 49, 1999, p. 428, no. 20.
B. Freyer-Schauenburg, "Asklepios, die Buchrolle und das Ei. Zu einem Asklepiostorso auf Samos und weiteren Repliken des Typus Amelung," Il Mar Nero, vol. 8, special issue, 2010-2011, p. 156, no. U/Add33.
V. Mazzuca, “Asclepius with Egg, ‘Type Nea Paphos-Alexandria-Trier’: New Data and Some New Reflections,” Arheologia Moldovei, vol. XXXVII, 2014, pp. 292-294, no. 14; p. 297, no. 3.

Exhibited

London, Sotheby's, Classical Antiquities from Private Collections in Great Britain, 15-31 January 1986.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The god of medicine and healing is depicted wearing a himation over the left shoulder, enveloping his body but leaving his chest exposed. He leans on a serpent-coiled staff on his right side and holds an egg in his lowered hand. He has a thick beard and undulating, center-parted hair framing his face. The unusual iconography of Asclepius holding an egg is known as the “Nea-Paphos-Alexandria-Trier” type, which takes its name from the location of the museums where examples are known (see Mazzuca, op. cit). The type, excluding the egg, is similar to Asclepius Amelung, and most are relatively small in scale, suggesting they served either as votive offerings or in household shrines. Copies are known from Greece, Asia Minor, Alexandria, the Danubian provinces and Rome. The egg is thought to symbolize the Universe, implying that the entire Universe needs the medicine of Asclepius (see Mazzuca, op. cit., p. 295).

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