Description

Vintage Bust of Hippocrates - Doris Appel Sculpture Bust Commissioned bust of Hippocrates - Dimensions are ; 7 1/4" high , 5" wide at its widest , 4" deep . Material is a heavy resin composite . Sculptor : Doris Appel . This beautiful bust by listed artist/sculptor Doris Appel ( 1904 - 1995 )was commissioned by none other than The Charles Pfizer Co Inc , now known as Pfizer Pharmaceuticals . Doris Leavitt Appel was born in Boston Massachusetts , and studied art at Boston University and The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston . She eventually wed Bernard Appel M.D. , who was immensely encouraging and supportive of her art , photographing it , filming her process and even helping her in casting her large works . In this way they collaborated on a concentration in art and medical history which was so much of her sculptural focus , inspiring her work concerning seminal historical figures whose discoveries changed the course of western medicine , science and philosophy . Her work has been housed in the Smithsonian . This piece is emblematic of her small work and bears information regarding the subject , sculptor and patron ( see photos ) . Hippocrates , the Ancient Greek physician regarded as the 'Father of Medicine' and putative author of the oath which bears his name and is still sworn to by doctors today , looks slightly to the left in this piece . Hippocrates has been the subject of countless busts of all styles and genres and by hundreds of artists , this bust however is particularly special , not only because of its creator and who commissioned it but because it is wonderfully expressive in that mid-century modern style which is so evocative . This is a rare piece in superb condition and we have set it well below the price it normally commands . There on the front of the base of this bust , it reads , " With purity and with holiness I will live my life and practice my art ." This is a very special and historically significant sculpture , a gift for the distinguished physician or the accomplished medical school graduate eager and ready to step out into the world to practice his tender art of healing , that oh so noble profession that Hippocrates began to hone almost two and one half millennia ago .