
Votive relief of Asklepios
Votive relief of Asklepios
Votive relief of Asklepios. 5th c. BC. The relief comes for the Asklepieio of Piraeus, which was founded near the end of the 5th century. The relief of the Museum of Piraeus depicts a scene of healing. Patients would spend a night in Asklepieio and the god would visit them during their sleep and explain to them how to recover their health. The scene depicted on the relief of Piraeus is as follows: in the center the patient is on a bed, while Asklepios standing on the right of it puts his arms on the woman’s shoulder. Behind the god, stands Hygieia, one of his daughters. On the left of the bed there are four figures, three adults and one child, probably the relatives of the patient, who venerate the god and plead for her healing.