Hygie, Based On An Ancient Model, Bronze, France - Cast During The Empire Period

Cast during the Empire period after a model by Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1793-1813)

In Greek mythology, Hygie, also known as Hygiée or Hygée, is the daughter of Asclepius, the god of medicine, and Lampetia. As the goddess of health and healing, cleanliness and hygiene (a word whose etymology, incidentally, derives from her name, from the Ancient Greek adjective hugieinós, ‘promoting health’), she is depicted as a young girl feeding a snake, the animal symbolising Asclepius.
The composition of our bronze sculpture draws its inspiration directly from a rather rare ancient model, of which there is believed to be only one known marble version, now held at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. A second ancient bronze variant is listed at the Getty Villa in Malibu.
In France, it was one of the figures comprising the Surtout’ from the Emperor’s private service, executed between 1807 and 1810 by Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1793 - 1813) whilst in Berlin, that introduced the ancient model to Parisian collectors. Our rare bronze piece is most likely the bronze counterpart to the hard-paste porcelain biscuit now held at the Sèvres Manufactory Museum.