Art History Paper: Hygeia, Goddess of Health
This piece Hygeia, Goddess of Health is a depiction of the goddess in human form. It was made during 1st century CE Rome during Imperial Rome. The sculpture is made of marble, since the Romans preferred the use of marble. By estimation the piece is around 1-2 feet tall and in many pieces this Goddess is shown with the ideal healthy body of a woman. Hygeia is the daughter of Asclepius (the god of healing and medicine) and Epione (the goddess of relieving pain), sister of Panaceia (the goddess of remedies), Aceso (the goddess of the healing process), Aigle (the goddess of good health), Iaso(the goddess of illness recuperation), Podaleirios (mortal earthly healer), and Machaon (also a mortal earthly …show more content…
The father drinking the medicine could also be an additional allusion to the myth where the dead serpents were rising from the dead in his temples after Zeus murdered him, this could be Hygeia giving him the elixir of life to bring him back to life. Some cults have been created for both Hygeia and Asclepius in Attica, Megaris, Cornithia, Sicyonia, Argolis, Elis, Achaea, Arcadia, and Boeotia where she was generally worshipped as a companion deity to Asclepius. In another source I found that Hygeia has a cult for herself that started in Athens during the 600s in BCE. As sacrifices, the hair of women and pieces of Babylonian clothing was offered to her in worship. The word hygiene was essentially created from her name. Hygeia is a goddess that still represents the medical field of today with the Bowl of Hygeia which is used for the symbol of the pharmaceutical …show more content…
Many Roman sculptors used marble because mainly the marble was loved for its vast variety of different colors, brilliant translucent quality, ability for small intricate details to be made on it, and its perfect stability. Bronze was normally melted down for its valuable metal so it was not used as much as they did in Greece for art. They preferred the non-white marble more since it allowed defined areas such as the muscles to be easier to see. To carve marble the Romans used either a hammer and chisel or a hand drill and after that used abrasion tools to give the marble a smooth appearance. One of the abrasion tools was normally an emery stone that worked like sandpaper to wood and then a softer stone was used to make the surface shiny. Many marble sculptures during the Greek and Roman period were said to only be finished after they were painted, but since they used natural materials they have mostly washed off, so it is hard to tell if a sculpture from those times were painted or not.
The sculptures of Hygeia were most likely found near baths because baths are used to clean and sanitize oneself to prevent sickness. The piece may have served to honor the goddess, but judging from its size it must belong to a noble who would place it in the baths to decorate placing the symbol for sanitation in the place of cleanliness. The only
This piece Hygeia, Goddess of Health is a depiction of the goddess in human form. It was made during 1st century CE Rome during Imperial Rome. The sculpture is made of marble, since the Romans preferred the use of marble. By estimation the piece is around 1-2 feet tall and in many pieces this Goddess is shown with the ideal healthy body of a woman. Hygeia is the daughter of Asclepius (the god of healing and medicine) and Epione (the goddess of relieving pain), sister of Panaceia (the goddess of remedies), Aceso (the goddess of the healing process), Aigle (the goddess of good health), Iaso(the goddess of illness recuperation), Podaleirios (mortal earthly healer), and Machaon (also a mortal earthly …show more content…
The father drinking the medicine could also be an additional allusion to the myth where the dead serpents were rising from the dead in his temples after Zeus murdered him, this could be Hygeia giving him the elixir of life to bring him back to life. Some cults have been created for both Hygeia and Asclepius in Attica, Megaris, Cornithia, Sicyonia, Argolis, Elis, Achaea, Arcadia, and Boeotia where she was generally worshipped as a companion deity to Asclepius. In another source I found that Hygeia has a cult for herself that started in Athens during the 600s in BCE. As sacrifices, the hair of women and pieces of Babylonian clothing was offered to her in worship. The word hygiene was essentially created from her name. Hygeia is a goddess that still represents the medical field of today with the Bowl of Hygeia which is used for the symbol of the pharmaceutical …show more content…
Many Roman sculptors used marble because mainly the marble was loved for its vast variety of different colors, brilliant translucent quality, ability for small intricate details to be made on it, and its perfect stability. Bronze was normally melted down for its valuable metal so it was not used as much as they did in Greece for art. They preferred the non-white marble more since it allowed defined areas such as the muscles to be easier to see. To carve marble the Romans used either a hammer and chisel or a hand drill and after that used abrasion tools to give the marble a smooth appearance. One of the abrasion tools was normally an emery stone that worked like sandpaper to wood and then a softer stone was used to make the surface shiny. Many marble sculptures during the Greek and Roman period were said to only be finished after they were painted, but since they used natural materials they have mostly washed off, so it is hard to tell if a sculpture from those times were painted or not.
The sculptures of Hygeia were most likely found near baths because baths are used to clean and sanitize oneself to prevent sickness. The piece may have served to honor the goddess, but judging from its size it must belong to a noble who would place it in the baths to decorate placing the symbol for sanitation in the place of cleanliness. The only