The infant Aesculapius, who has a halo in this image, discovered by shepherds on a mountain. Asclepius (Aesculapius) is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts. The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, remains a symbol of medicine today (not to be confused with the caduceus, or staff with two snakes). Some historians have proposed that there may have been a historical Asclepius during the Greek Dark Ages, who became the subject of a Hero cult and on whom the mythological character was based. Watercolor painting by Richard Dadd, 1851.