Statuette of Asclepius Holding an Egg
Statuette of Asclepius Holding an Egg
Place of OriginLikely Turkey, reportedly from Cyzicus
Datelate 2nd century AD
DimensionsOverall: 19 3/4 × 7 7/8 × 3 15/16 in. (50.2 × 20 × 10 cm)
MediumMarble
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LineMuseum Art Fund and Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
2025.16
Not on View
DescriptionThe statuette depicts Asclepius standing in a contrapposto pose, his weight on the left leg, the right relaxed. He wears a himation draped over the left shoulder and around the lower body, exposing the chest. His right hand holds an egg, while his left rests on a staff entwined by a serpent. Deep drill work articulates his hair and beard, and the himation’s folds are rhythmically cut, forming triangular pleats. The piece is highly polished, carved in fine-grained marble, and stands on a profiled plinth.
Label TextThis marble statuette shows Asclepius, the ancient Roman god of healing, standing in a relaxed pose. He wears a heavy, wrapped garment called a himation, draped over one shoulder, and holds a staff with a snake coiled around it—a symbol still associated with medicine today. In his other hand, he holds an egg, a rare feature in images of Asclepius. The meaning of the egg remains uncertain; some ancient sources suggest it symbolized the universe or cosmic healing, but no single interpretation is agreed upon. The sculpture was made during the Roman Empire and reflects styles common in regions like modern-day Turkey and Greece. Based on its reported origin in Cyzicus (in present-day northwestern Turkey), and its deep folds and polished surface, it likely comes from a workshop in Asia Minor. Figures like this were often placed in homes or healing sanctuaries as votive offerings—objects given to a deity in gratitude or in hope of recovery. This statuette was first documented in Paris in 1923 by Yanko Ioannidis (active ca. 1891–1923), a Greek-Ottoman architect who served as the chief imperial architect under Sultan Abdülhamid II. He inscribed a photograph of the object as a gift to the British Academy of Medicine. It was long misattributed to the Ottoman diplomat Yanko Aristarchi (1811–1897), but archival evidence confirms Ioannidis as the true early owner.Published ReferencesReinach, Salomon. Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. V, pt. II. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1924, p. 535, no. 1.
Dorsey, Hebe. “Where All That Glitters Is Gold.” Vogue, December 1981, p. 296.
Picón, Carlos A. Classical Antiquities from Private Collections in Great Britain: A Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Ashmole Archive. London: Sotheby's, January 15–31, 1986, p. 41, no. 44, pl. 8.
Filges, Axel. “Marmorstatuetten aus Kleinasien: Zu Ikonographie, Funktion und Produktion antoninischer, severischer und späterer Idealplastik.” Istanbuler Mitteilungen, vol. 49, 1999, p. 428, no. 20.
Freyer-Schauenburg, Brigitte. “Asklepios, die Buchrolle und das Ei. Zu einem Asklepiostorso auf Samos und weiteren Repliken des Typus Amelung.” Il Mar Nero, vol. 8, 2010–2011, p. 156, no. U/Add33.
Mazzuca, Vito. “Asclepius with Egg, ‘Type Nea Paphos–Alexandria–Trier’: New Data and Some New Reflections.” Arheologia Moldovei, vol. XXXVII, 2014, p. 293, no. 14, pl. I/3.
Ariadne Galleries. Classical Masterworks. New York: Ariadne Galleries, 2014, no. 18, pp. 40–41.
Exhibition HistoryLondon, Sotheby's, Classical Antiquities from Private Collections in Great Britain, 15-31 January 1986.Comparative ReferencesCf. Demirer, Ünal, and Ahmet Yaraş. “Yelten Asklepiosu.” Seleucia ad Calycadnum 6 (2016): 45–59.Cf. Gersht, Rivka. “The Caesarea Maritima Asklepios and the Question of Glykon.” Scripta Classica Israelica 39 (2020): 85–116.
Cf. Kaya, Mesut Can. “Asklepios ‘Nea Paphos–Alexandria–Trier Tipi’ İçin Replik Önerisi: Kremna Asklepios’u.” Anadolu / Anatolia 49 (2023): 185–199.
Cf. Mazzuca, Vito. “Asclepio con l’uovo (tipo Nea Paphos–Alexandria–Trier): la sua diffusione in Grecia.” In Δρόμοι: Studi sul mondo antico offerti a Emanuele Greco, vol. II, 881–892. Atene–Paestum: Edizioni Pandemos, 2016.
Cf. Martens, Brian. “The Statuary of Asklepios from the Athenian Agora.” Hesperia 87 (2018): 545–610.
Cf. Sirano, Francesco. “Considerazioni sull’Asclepio ‘tipo Nea Paphos’: Ipotesi su un gruppo di sculture di età imperiale.” Archeologia Classica 46 (1994): 199–232.
Cf. Sirano, Francesco. “Immagini di divinità da contesto domestico a Cos: la documentazione degli scavi italiani.” Mélanges de l’École française de Rome: Antiquité 116, no. 2 (2004): 953–981.
425-350 BCE
Mid- to late 4th century CE
Hellenistic Greek, possibly Ptolemaic, about 150-50 BCE
1st-2nd century CE
19th or 20th century
about 150 CE
5th Dynasty (2498–2345 BCE)
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