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Lot Essay
These two busts represent Hercules and Omphale, the latter recognisable from the lion skin she has appropriated from Hercules. Unusually, Hercules is shown without an attribute but is identifiable from his facial type, muscular build and his association with Omphale, his lover, the Queen of Lydia.
With their highly polished surfaces, and the fleshy, yet highly agitated drapery, these busts are related to sculptors working in the north of Italy, and particularly Venice. One can compare, for example, the head of the Virgin from the Madonna del Rosario by Paolo Gropelli (1677-1751, see Bacchi, op. cit., fig. 401) with the bust of Omphale in the treatment of the wavy hair, the nose and small mouth, and the drapery around her neck and shoulders.
With their highly polished surfaces, and the fleshy, yet highly agitated drapery, these busts are related to sculptors working in the north of Italy, and particularly Venice. One can compare, for example, the head of the Virgin from the Madonna del Rosario by Paolo Gropelli (1677-1751, see Bacchi, op. cit., fig. 401) with the bust of Omphale in the treatment of the wavy hair, the nose and small mouth, and the drapery around her neck and shoulders.