Marble pillar with snake and wreath

1st–2nd century CE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 171

This pillar may be either votive or sepulchral. The snake is both an attribute of the healing god Asklepios, suggesting this object may have been a thank offering on behalf of one cured of an illness, and a potent symbol of the underworld, alluding perhaps to a funereal function. The wreath, meanwhile, evokes victory in the broadest sense, as well as the realm of Dionysos, whose mythological rebirth makes his iconography particularly appropriate in a tomb context.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Marble pillar with snake and wreath
Period: Imperial
Date: 1st–2nd century CE
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble, Pentelic ?
Dimensions: h. 14 5/8 in (37.2 cm)
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912
Object Number: 12.229.2
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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