A ROMAN BRONZE ASKLEPIUS

ANTONINE PERIOD, CIRCA MID 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE ASKLEPIUS
ANTONINE PERIOD, CIRCA MID 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Perhaps based on a 4th century B.C. prototype by Bryaxis or the sons of Praxiteles, the god of healing standing on the original circular plinth, his weight on his right leg, the left leg relaxed with the knee bent and the heel lifted, his right hand at his hip, the left with the fingers curled, draped in a voluminous mantle wrapped around his left arm and falling to his ankles, his sandaled feet emerging below the hem, his muscular torso left bare, his head turned strongly to his right, rich curls framing his face and falling to his shoulders in long locks, the thick beard and moustache composed of individual ringlets divided at the chin
7¼ in. (18.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 29 November 1989, lot 81.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1990.

Literature

J.J. Herrmann, "From Olympus to the Underworld, Ancient Bronzes from the John W. Kluge Collection," Minerva, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 42, fig. 10.

Exhibited

From Olympus to the Underworld, Ancient Bronzes from the John W. Kluge Collection, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 26 March - 23 June 1996.

Lot Essay

The Morven bronze is a powerful example of the Asklepius Este type. Herrmann (op. cit. p. 41) informs that "The swings and counterbalancing gestures, clearly seen even under the richly articulated drapery, present the familiar Askepios pose with unusual force and logic."

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