ITALIAN, 17TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF HERCULES
Italian, 17th century
Depicted holding a club in his right hand and the Apples of the Hesperides in his left; on an integrally cast oval base.
Dark brown patina with lighter high points.
23¾ in. (60.3 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture, London and New York, 1970, fig. 126.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The present bronze figure of Hercules is derived from a famous antique marble bust of the Emperor Commodus as Hercules in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome (illustrated in Pope-Hennessy, loc. cit.). Both have the distinctive lion skin headdress and the decorative arrangement of the tied paws spread across the upper chest, and in both the marble bust and the present bronze the subject is holding his club in his right hand and the apples of the Hesperides in his left. The full- length depiction of Hercules is less common, although two small bronze statuettes - catalogued as 16th century - were sold in these Rooms in 1984 (11 December, lots 72A and 73).

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