Lot 95
95
A ROMAN BRONZE INFANT HERCULES
A ROMAN BRONZE INFANT HERCULES
A ROMAN BRONZE INFANT HERCULES
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From time to time, Christie's may offer a lot whic… Read more
A ROMAN BRONZE INFANT HERCULES

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details
A ROMAN BRONZE INFANT HERCULES
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
8 ½ in. (21.5 cm.) high
Provenance
Collection Mariaud de Serres, France, acquired before 2000.
Collection Jean-Philippe Mariaud de Serres, Christie's, Paris, 16-17 February 2011, lot 376.
Special notice
From time to time, Christie's may offer a lot which it owns in whole or in part. This is such a lot.

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Lot Essay

This piece depicts an episode from the life of the infant Hercules. Enraged by Zeus’s adultery with the mortal woman Alcmene, Hera had tried to kill baby Hercules, his birth the outcome of Zeus’s infidelity, by sending two snakes to his cradle. The story inspired many ancient artists and can be seen repeated in various media such as mosaics, coinage and marble sculpture of the Greek and Roman periods, see S. Woodford, 'Herakles', LIMC, IV, 1988, pp. 827-832, pls 552-556, nos 1598-1664.

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