Live Auction 7561Simon Sainsbury The Creation of an English Arcadia
A CARVED MARBLE BUST OF HERCULES
Lot 157

A CARVED MARBLE BUST OF HERCULES

LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, ITALIAN, PROBABLY ROMAN

Closed18 June 2008

Price Realised

GBP 51,650

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A CARVED MARBLE BUST OF HERCULES
LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, ITALIAN, PROBABLY ROMAN
Depicted with his head turned slightly to dexter and wearing his lion pelt about the shoulders, on an associated rectangular grey marble socle, weathering, minor cracks
27 in. (68.5 cm.) high; 32 in. (81.5 cm.) high overall

Specialist note

Hercules was among the most popular of the ancient gods, and his many exploits ensured that there was a wide range of imagery available to artists. Along with a club, his most well-known attribute was the lion pelt, seen here draped across his shoulders. It refers to the first of the Labours of Hercules, when he slew a lion which had been terrorising the villagers of Nemea.