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Image
3D Model
© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Empúries
Omeka ID 128
Empúries. Neàpolis
Greece

statue of Aesculapius, bearded male statue

MAC EMP-11530, MAC EMP-11531, MAC EMP-11532

Object type
statue
Production date
-200 / -100
Fabric
-
Museum
Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Empúries
Culture
Greece
Discovery location
Empúries. Neàpolis
Materials
marble
Township
Escala, l' (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Girona, Alt Empordà)
Technique
sculpting
Where is it?
Exposició permanent
Dimensions
-
Description
Marble statue representing a male deity with a beard and cloak, traditionally identified as Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. It is larger than the life-size (2.20 m high) and was sculpted in two parts that fit together at the torso: the lower part, with the mantle and sandals, is of Pentelic (Athenian) marble. The upper part, with the nude bust, the head and the right arm, is made of marble from the island of Paros, as is the left forearm, which is attached to the body with bolts. It comes from a Hellenistic workshop in the eastern Mediterranean and would have arrived in Emporion at the end of the 2nd century BC. The various parts were found in Empúries in 1909 on the upper terrace of the sanctuaries located to the south of the Neapolis of the Greek city, together with other sculptural remains. The iconographic features and, above all, the fact that fragments of the representation of a snake were found, led to its identification with the Greek god Asclepius, the Roman Aesculapius. It has also been suggested that this statue may represent a protector deity of the city (Agathos Daimon), or the Alexandrian god Serapis, whose cult has been documented in Emporion. The statue would have been part of a temple located in a sacred area of the city related to the cult of protective divinities and healers.

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