HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY B.C.

This bearded man is reminiscent of the "Farnese Hercules," a Greek 4th century B.C. sculpture by Lysippos, which is known to modern audiences from the 3rd century A.D. copy now in the National Museum in Naples. Colloquially known as the "Weary" Hercules, the type shows the hero resting after the completion of his twelfth and final labor. Alternatively it could be a portrait that is meant to invoke the hero's iconography. It likely was once attached to the tondo of a shallow bowl.