Statue of the Goddess Hygeia (4th century BC) is part of MASP’s archaeology collection, having belonged to the museum since 1950. The collection includes works from different Mediterranean cultures and works from the period between ancient Egypt and Hellenistic and Roman civilization. According to Greco-Roman mythology, Hygeia was one of the daughters of Asclepius, the god of healing and medicine. Her name derives from the same root as the Greek words corresponding to “hygiene” and “health.” The Romans translated her name as Salus, recovering the worship of the goddess and dedicating various temples to her. Hygeia is associated, above all, to the prevention of illness, which is why her symbols (the serpent and the cup) were appropriated by the pharmaceutical sciences. The goddess was depicted dressed in a tunic, with a snake wrapped around her body and drinking from her cup. In many Mediterranean cultures, the snake symbolized wisdom and eternal life. In MASP’s work, made of marble, Hygeia is carrying the god Eros, or Cupid, in her left arm and holding a bowl in her left hand; the snake is wrapped around her right arm. The Goddess’s mythological attributes are not well defined and she was sometimes represented, as in this case, in the company of Eros, similar to the Venus/Aphrodite.

— MASP Curatorial Team, 2017

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