AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ITALIAN, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE FARNESE HERCULES
AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ITALIAN, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY
Depicted standing in contrapposto with his right arm behind his back and his left resting on a tree-stump support draped with his lion's pelt; on an integrally cast rectangular plinth; medium brown patina and lighter high points
15 in. (38 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 229-232, no. 46.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This bronze model of the Farnese Hercules is modelled after a Roman marble dating from circa 200 AD, now in the Museo Nazionale, Naples, and which is in turn a copy of a fourth century BC original possibly by Lysippus. The Roman marble was discovered in the Baths of Caracalla, Rome by 1556 and was acquired shortly after by Pope Paul III Farnese. The sculpture was on display in the arcade around the courtyard of the Farnese Palace in Rome until 1787 but was then moved to Naples after being restored by Carlo Albacini.

Here, the hero Hercules is shown resting after having completed the twelve tasks assigned him. He leans wearily on his club and the Nemean lion's skin, and holds behind his back the three golden apples that would eventually ensure his path to immortality.

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