| Farnese Hercules |
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The Farnese Hercules stood for generations in his own room at Palazzo Farnese, Rome , where he was surrounded by frescoed depictions of his feats by Federico Zuccaro in 1566-69 (as Vasari noted). The statue is now displayed in Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples . The Hercules is one of the most famous sculptures of antiquity, and has fixed the image of the mythic hero in the European imagination. The sculpture is a 3rd century Roman copy (or perhaps one made in the Athenian studio of Glycon) of a sculpture by Lysippos or one of his circle of fellow artisans, in the 4th century BCE. The chronicler Ulisse Aldrovandi recorded in 1592 that the statue had been unearthed in 1546 in the ruins of the Baths Of Caracalla (dedicated in 216 CE). It quickly made its way into the collection of Alessandro Farnese , nephew of Pope Paul III . Alessandro Farnese was well placed to form one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture that has been assembled since Antiquity. The Farnese Hercules is a massive and muscular statue of Hercules, originally cast in Bronze through a method called Lost Wax Casting and was made by the bronze sculptor Lysippos . The statue depicts a weary Hercules leaning on his club, which has his lion-skin draped over it. He is performing one of his last twelve trials which is suggested by the apple he holds behind his back. This statue was well-liked by the Romans and copies have been found in Roman palaces and gymnasiums. Hercules is caught in a rare moment of repose. Leaning on his knobby club which is draped with the pelt of the Nemean Lion , he holds the apples of the Hesperides in his right hand, but conceals them behind his back like a pitcher with a knuckleball. Many engravings and woodcuts spread the fame of the Farnese's Hercules. By 1562 the find was already included in the set of engravings for ''Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae'' ("Mirror of Rome's Magnificence") {Link without Title} and connoisseurs, artists and tourists gaped at the original, which stood in the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, protected under the arcade. In 1590-91, during his trip to Rome, made quick sketches of the Hercules' planes and massing. Before photography, prints were the only way to put the image into many hands. Wealthy collectors could afford one of the numerous bronze replicas in sizes for table-top display. A full-size marble copy that belonged to the Bourbons of Naples is at the National Museum, Naples. Copies of the Farnese Hercules appeared in 17th and 18th century gardens throughout Europe. At Kassel a colossal version 8.5 m high produced by Johann Jacob Anthoni, 1717, has become the city's mascot. In Scotland there is a rare copy in lead, of the first half of the 18th Century , overlooks the recently restored Hercules Garden at Blair Castle , Perth And Kinross . EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCE Phyllis Bober and Ruth Rubinstein. ''Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture,'' 1986. |
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