A Visit to Aesculapius
| A Visit to Aesculapius | |
|---|---|
_-_A_Visit_to_Aesculapius_-_N01586_-_National_Gallery.jpg) | |
| Artist | Edward Poynter |
| Year | 1880 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 151.1 cm × 228.6 cm (59.5 in × 90.0 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain, London |
A Visit to Aesculapius is an 1880 history painting by the British artist Edward Poynter.[1] [2] It depicts a scene from a poem by the Elizabethan writer Thomas Watson, inspired by Greek mythology. Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing is visited by Venus who has a thorn in her foot.[3] She is accompanied by her handmaidens, the three Graces. The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1880 at Burlington House in London. It was acquired for the nation as part of the Chantrey Bequest. Today it remains in the collection of the Tate Britain.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Smith p.xi
- ^ Wood p.144
- ^ Becker p.260
- ^ "'A Visit to Aesculapius', Sir Edward Poynter, 1880". Tate.
Bibliography
[edit]- Becker, Edwin. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Rizzoli, 1997.
- Smith, Alison. The Victorian Nude: Sexuality, Morality, and Art. Manchester University Press, 1996.
- Wood, Christopher. Olympian Dreamers: Victorian Classical Painters, 1860-1914. Constable, 1983.