PROPERTY OF THE WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART, SOLD TO BENEFIT THE EUROPEAN PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE PURCHASE FUND

A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF HERCULES

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE HEAD OF HERCULES
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
The hero depicted youthful, his oval face inclined to his left, with a bulging forehead and contoured brows overhanging deep-set, unarticulated, almond-shaped eyes, his lips parted, his hair a mass of closely-cropped short wavy locks brushed up at the forehead and bound in a thin diadem, with curving locks on his cheeks in front of his small ears
12 in. (30.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Edward Moss, Augusta, Georgia; Parke-Bernet, New York, 24 January 1969, lot 176.
with Blumka Gallery, New York.
Henry E. Schnakenberg, bequested 1971.

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Lot Essay

There are a number of surviving Roman depictions of the youthful hero, all inspired by Greek statuary of the 4th century B.C. For related treatment of the hair and face see the various versions of the Albertini Herakles, nos. 302-303, and the Lansdowne Herakles, no. 689 in Boardman, "Herakles," in LIMC.

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