Statuette of Hercules

2nd century A.D.

Medium

Bone

Dimensions

7.8 × 2.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-245046

Exhausted from completing his last labor, that of fetching the apples of the Hesperides, the Greek hero Herakles leans on his club. The skin of the Nemean Lion, which cushions his weight resting on the club, alludes to the hero's first labor.  Roman artists took delight in the contrast of the hero's powerful, bulky muscles and his sagging, tired posture. The three-dimensional conception of the statue required that a viewer search for clues to its meaning. From the front, the cause of Herakles' tiredness is not evident. Only from the back can we see that Herakles holds the apples of the Hesperides, thereby explaining his exhaustion. Nonetheless, many of the Roman versions of this sculpture were displayed in niches or up against walls, making it difficult to see the apples in Herakles’ hand. We do not know how this miniature would have been displayed by its ancient owners, but its smaller size may have made it easier to see from all sides.  Referred to by scholars as the "weary Herakles" or the "Farnese" type, after the most famous replica in the Farnese collection, this Roman statuette is a version of a Greek bronze life-size statue of the late 400s B.C. by the sculptor Lysippos.…