Go to main contentGo to footer

Hygieia

Roman art

Date
Mid-2nd century A.D.
Collection
Sculpture
Location
Third Corridor (A24)
Technique
Greek marble
Size
209 cm (height with plinth), 193 cm (height without plinth)
Inventory
1914 n. 214

Documented in Rome in the mid-16th century, the work was bought by Ferdinando de' Medici in 1584, and it has been in the Gallery since the end of the 18th century. The neck and arms of the statue, with their attributes, are from restoration, as is the (modern) skull cap. The work depicts a young woman dressed in a long chiton, over which she wears a Doric peplos, fixed on her shoulders, which falls to her chest with a conspicuous fold. In the left hand is a drinking pot (patera), while on the same arm rests a snake. The statue represents Hygieia, daughter of the god Aesculapius and Epione and protector of health and hygiene. There are no known originals with which this statue can be identified: for this reason, it is preferred to define it as a "variant" of the Roman period, reworked around 150 A.D. According to Amelung, the artist was inspired by the Eirene and Ploutos by Kephisodotos (ca. 375 b.C.), father of the famous Praxiteles, but also by other models from the late classical and Hellenistic periods.

Bibliography

A. Romualdi (a cura di), Studi e restauri. I marmi antichi della Galleria degli Uffizi, II, Firenze, Polistampa, 2007 (con contributi di F. Guidetti, L’Igea degli Uffizi, pp. 88-115; L. Pierelli, G. Tonini, Il restauro, pp. 117-119) e bibliografia precedente.

Text by
Fabrizio Paolucci
Interested in visiting The Uffizi?
Arrange your visit to Florence, find prices and opening hours of the museum.

The Newsletter of the Uffizi Galleries

Subscribe to keep up to date!
EXCEPTIONAL NIGHT OPENINGS

Discover the Uffizi by night!

Take your time, enjoy beauty in a relaxed atmosphere.