Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-edward-poynter-433" aria-label="More by Sir Edward Poynter" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir Edward Poynter</a>
A Visit to Aesculapius
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1880
adults
animals: birds
animals: reptiles
Aphrodite / Venus
architecture
Asclepius / Aesculapius
bathing / swimming
classical
classical myths: gods and heroes
column
courtyard
domestic
dove
drawing water
features
female
fountain
garden structures
healer
leisure and pastimes
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
man
medical
nudes
people
periods and styles
recreational activities
religion and belief
snake
stair / step
Three Graces
townscapes / man-made features
tree
Watson, Thomas
woman
work and occupations
<p>Aesculapius was the Greek god of healing and medicine, and is symbolised by a snake curled around a staff. In a scene taken from a poem by the Elizabethan Thomas Watson, Poynter shows him being consulted by Venus who has a thorn in her foot. Venus is identified by the doves, which are her attributes, and she is accompanied by her handmaidens, the three Graces, who are the personification of grace and beauty. Poynter posed them in the traditional Classical manner, with two of the Graces facing the viewer, while one turns her back. The resulting frieze of figures creates a subtle and elegant rhythm across the composition.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
1 November 2001 – 31 August 2003
2003-08-31
6 September 2002 – 5 January 2003
2003-01-05
2002-09-06
Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York, USA)
2001-11-01
Exposed: The Victorian Nude
Exhibition
30 November 2009 – 8 February 2010
2010-02-08
30 November 2009 – 8 February 2010
2010-02-08
2009-11-30
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
2009-11-30
Facets of History in the Mirror of XIXth Century European Art
Loan-out
9 June 2015 – 13 September 2015
2015-09-13
9 June 2015 – 13 September 2015
2015-09-13
2015-06-09
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-06-09
Fighting History
Exhibition
A Visit to Aesculapius
support: 1511 × 2286 mm

Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1880
<p>Aesculapius was the Greek god of healing and medicine, and is symbolised by a snake curled around a staff. In a scene taken from a poem by the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/elizabethan" title="Glossary definition for 'Elizabethan'"><span>Elizabethan</span></a> Thomas Watson, Poynter shows him being consulted by Venus who has a thorn in her foot. Venus is identified by the doves, which are her attributes, and she is accompanied by her handmaidens, the three Graces, who are the personification of grace and beauty. Poynter posed them in the traditional <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/classicism" title="Glossary definition for 'Classicism'"><span>Classical</span></a> manner, with two of the Graces facing the viewer, while one turns her back. The resulting frieze of figures creates a subtle and elegant rhythm across the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a>.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults animals: birds animals: reptiles Aphrodite / Venus architecture Asclepius / Aesculapius bathing / swimming classical classical myths: gods and heroes column courtyard domestic dove drawing water features female fountain garden structures healer leisure and pastimes literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) man medical nudes people periods and styles recreational activities religion and belief snake stair / step Three Graces townscapes / man-made features tree Watson, Thomas woman work and occupations