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Pierre Simonian
Art 1A
Prof. Valerie Taylor
24 November 2014
The Hope Hygieia
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has such a diverse collection of art that
how could one person pick one piece to focus on? When I walked into the room there
she was standing just over 6 feet tall with a snake wrapped around her. She is the Hope
Hygieia, Goddess of health. The Hope Hygieia displays herself to be the goddess of
health through her appealing posture, the significance of the snake, and her function
and duty for curing the people.
The Hope Hygieia was found in Ostia, Italy and is a Roman 2nd century copy
(130-161 CE) after the lost Greek original (360 BCE). The medium is a smooth white
marble. The sculpture was restored around 1800 then de-restored in the the 1970s, and
finally re-restored from 2006 to 2008 in the Getty Villa. It is currently on loan from
LACMA.
She stands fully clothed, looking down to her right, with a snake running down
her arm. It looks as though she is serving the plate in her right hand to someone as her
snake looks on. She looks to be clothed by two separate robes. The inner layer is
shown by covering her right breast and falls all the way to the floor. It seems to be a
better fit than her outer, looser layer. The entire posture of Hygieia poses in a way so
that the viewer can see where her attention is, which is I believe the subject she is
serving the plate to. She looks very relaxed and her clothing adds to it by enhancing her

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movement. I thought the folds in her clothing were beautiful, and it gave a strong sense
of realism. Her face, on the other hand, seems rather dull; she is not smiling or
displaying any emotion but almost looks like she is concerned or sad to what ever she is
looking at. Hygieia as the subject does not necessarily come from Classical literature,
but I can hypothesize that there have been writings on her as the goddess.
It is possible that the Greeks used bronze for the original sculpture, but the
Romans used pure marble to carve their copy. As for the dimensions, the entire figure
overall is geometric. Since the sculpture is representing a goddess, it is slightly larger in
scale than the average human because they are supposed to be larger than life, in
other words, it is in monumental scale. Even though she is shown on a larger scale
there is no disproportion shown. The head is the appropriate size for the body and the
legs are as well. Looking around the sculpture, the space remained stable throughout all
angles. The only illusion that is created is when I stand and look up from the head of the
snake to her. From the point of view its as if I looked at the figure in a completely
different way. For a moment she is not looking down at the ground anymore, she is
looking at me, giving me the same help she may have given to her followers. From that
perspective, I feel welcomed and protected because she is giving me her attention. She
is also meant to be looked through a frontal point of view. As for color and light, the light
creamy color of the sculpture was already exhilarating and the museum light made it
much more eye-catching. This was not a significant part of the piece. By just looking at
the surface and not touching it, I can see how smooth and pure the texture is.
After analyzing The Hope Hygieia in a formal way, I was really curious to see
what this piece actually symbolized. According to the brief description displayed,

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Hygieia is the goddess of health. She was the daughter of the god of medicine
Asclepius. The material in her hand, which I thought was a plate at first, is actually milk
and she is reaching down to feed someone. In essence, what we see here, is the god of
health preforming her job, which is healing the sick. The snake represent the symbol of
health. We even see the snake used in the modern day medical logo. If the snake had
been left out from the finished sculpture, it would have made it difficult for the art
historians to interpret what the purpose of the sculpture was in the first place. It would
have just shown a female figure passing down milk, which can mean many things. The
snake represents a sign of health, healing, and cleanliness just to reassure the viewer
that the sculpture represents the goddess of health.
Since it represents health, I think this sculpture was for public use at the time. It
is very possible that The Hope Hygieia may have been in a temple or palace. Whoever
wasnt feeling well or had a serious health issue would go and see her to pray and give
offerings so that she would heal them. If this function is correct then it would easily
match the sculptures form. Perhaps the reason why the figure is posed that way is so
that a person can stand right under hand she can focus her healing ability.
According to Ancient History Encyclopedia, the Greeks were the first to overturn
the usual magic and herbs to cure the sick and began to rely on religion and gods for
the cure. They introduced this with Hygieia in Athens, which sparked a very significant
healing era lasting from 500 BCE to 500 CE. So, this work of art provided fundamentals
for the people to connect with the god of health. So this work of art says that the culture
and society of Greece were in need of people to get cured.

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Why did I choose this work? As Ive mentioned earlier, when looking at the
sculpture at a certain point of view, it makes me feel protected and cared for. Though I
am not sick, her genuine presence me feel good about myself. When looking through
her eyes, I see that she is looking right through me, not judging me, but willing to fix me
and my flaws. Hygieias optimism look at my problems not as problems but looks at it
as something I should work on. She doesnt criticize me, she helps and cares for me.

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Works Cited

Beumer, Mark. "Hygieia, the Goddess of Health." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 24
Aug. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Melina, Remy. "Why Is the Medical Symbol a Snake on a Stick?" LiveScience.

TechMedia Network, 09 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

"The Hope Hygieia (Getty Press Release)." The Hope Hygieia (Getty Press Release).
N.p., 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

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Pictures

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