Hygeia by Klimt Italian Tapestry

Hygeia - Klimt is an Italian jacquard woven wall tapestry. It is part of a ceiling painting called Medicine presented in 1901 by Gustav Klimt. This extract features the figure of Hygeia, the mythological daughter of the god of medicine. Hygieia stands with the Aesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimt conveyed an ambiguous unity of life and death, with nothing to celebrate the role of medicine or science.

Historically Hygia was the goddess of good health. She was a daughter and attendant of the medicine-god Asklepios and a companion of the goddess Aphrodite. Her sisters included Panakeia (All-Cure) and Iaso (Remedy).