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Lot Essay
Asclepius was the son of Apollo, born from the sun god's liaison with the mortal Coronis. According to one version of the myth, Apollo had Coronis killed for being unfaithful to him. As her body was laid out on a funeral pyre, he cut away the unborn Asclepius from her womb and left him in the care of the centaur Chiron. He taught the young god the art of medicine, and it was said that the student surpassed his master after bestowing kindness to a snake, who in return whispered secret knowledge about healing to the god. Thereafter, a snake became his characteristic attribute. Asclepius went on to marry the goddess Epione (Greek for "soothing") and to sire three sons and five daughters. Each of his daughters was aptly named for a different facet of health and medicine: Hygeia (hygiene), Panacea (universal remedy), Iaso (recuperation), Aceso (the healing process) and Aglaea (glow of good health).
Despite the absence of the head and his characteristic snake-entwined staff, we can conclude based on the style that the subject is Asclepius. All of the many surviving variations of the standing figure of the god, known from freestanding sculpture, reliefs, gems and coins, share some common elements, including the treatment of the mantle, which drapes diagonally across his muscular body and envelops the left arm and the legs. For the type see nos. 332 and 341 in B. Holtzmann, "Asklepios," LIMC, vol. II.
The cult of Asclepius did not enjoy widespread popularity until the late 5th century B.C., after its introduction to Athens around 420 B.C. But by the end of the next century, worship of the god had spread, and major sanctuaries were established at Epidaurus, Cos and Pergamum. The cult arrived in Rome following a plague in 293 B.C., where a sanctuary was established on the Insula Tiburina. The present sculpture, a Roman work of exceptional quality from the 2nd century A.D., must reflect an earlier cult-statue from one of these great centers.
This statue of Asclepius was once part of the extensive collection of Count Karol Lanckoroński (1848-1933) of Vienna. According to J. Miziolek (“The Lanckoronski Collection in Poland,” Antichità viva, vol. 34, pp. 27-49), by the beginning of the 20th century, “the Lanckoronski Collection was one of the richest private galleries in Europe; in Vienna only the Liechtenstein and Harrach collections could compare with it.” Initially housed in a residence on Vienna’s Wasagasse, Lańckoronski transferred his collection in the mid 1890s to a neo-baroque palace built by Fellner & Helmer near the Belvedere, the Palais Lanckoroński. While the majority of Lanckoroński’s holdings were Old Master paintings, particularly from the Italian Renaissance, Classical antiquity and archaeology played an integral role in his life. Lanckoroński’s fortune gave him the ability not only purchase the finest antiquities on the market but also to sponsor archeological expeditions and undertake conservation work. Most notably, he financed expeditions to Pamphylia and Pisidia in the 1880s; his collaborators included, among others, Eugen Petersen, the director of German Archeological Institute in Rome, and George Niemann, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. The means of acquisition for most of Lanckoroński’s antiquities is not known, but many were probably acquired on his extensive Grand Tours, at auction and at antique shops in Rome, Vienna, Berlin and Munich. For an overview of Lanckoroński’s collection of ancient art, see pp. 165-173 in J. Winiewicz-Wolska, op. cit.
Despite the absence of the head and his characteristic snake-entwined staff, we can conclude based on the style that the subject is Asclepius. All of the many surviving variations of the standing figure of the god, known from freestanding sculpture, reliefs, gems and coins, share some common elements, including the treatment of the mantle, which drapes diagonally across his muscular body and envelops the left arm and the legs. For the type see nos. 332 and 341 in B. Holtzmann, "Asklepios," LIMC, vol. II.
The cult of Asclepius did not enjoy widespread popularity until the late 5th century B.C., after its introduction to Athens around 420 B.C. But by the end of the next century, worship of the god had spread, and major sanctuaries were established at Epidaurus, Cos and Pergamum. The cult arrived in Rome following a plague in 293 B.C., where a sanctuary was established on the Insula Tiburina. The present sculpture, a Roman work of exceptional quality from the 2nd century A.D., must reflect an earlier cult-statue from one of these great centers.
This statue of Asclepius was once part of the extensive collection of Count Karol Lanckoroński (1848-1933) of Vienna. According to J. Miziolek (“The Lanckoronski Collection in Poland,” Antichità viva, vol. 34, pp. 27-49), by the beginning of the 20th century, “the Lanckoronski Collection was one of the richest private galleries in Europe; in Vienna only the Liechtenstein and Harrach collections could compare with it.” Initially housed in a residence on Vienna’s Wasagasse, Lańckoronski transferred his collection in the mid 1890s to a neo-baroque palace built by Fellner & Helmer near the Belvedere, the Palais Lanckoroński. While the majority of Lanckoroński’s holdings were Old Master paintings, particularly from the Italian Renaissance, Classical antiquity and archaeology played an integral role in his life. Lanckoroński’s fortune gave him the ability not only purchase the finest antiquities on the market but also to sponsor archeological expeditions and undertake conservation work. Most notably, he financed expeditions to Pamphylia and Pisidia in the 1880s; his collaborators included, among others, Eugen Petersen, the director of German Archeological Institute in Rome, and George Niemann, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. The means of acquisition for most of Lanckoroński’s antiquities is not known, but many were probably acquired on his extensive Grand Tours, at auction and at antique shops in Rome, Vienna, Berlin and Munich. For an overview of Lanckoroński’s collection of ancient art, see pp. 165-173 in J. Winiewicz-Wolska, op. cit.