Lot 18A
Rome, ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. Carved from pink Rosso Antico marble, a bust of the Herakles (also spelled Hercules) wearing a lion skin and lion-headed cloak with fangs near his temples and paws tied around his neck, referencing Herakles' first labor in which King Eurystheus asked him to bring back the skin of a lion that terrorized the hills of Nemea. Discovering that his arrows were ineffective against the wild beast, Heracles eventually emerged victorious by using his brute strength and choking the lion to death. Custom stand. Size: 4.375" W x 6.75" H (11.1 cm x 17.1 cm) Size: 10.875" H (27.6 cm)
Rosso antico marble is a fine pink to rich red marble with occasional black veins and white markings that was used for sculptures by the ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. It was quarried above Agios Kyprianos on the east coast of Cape Tenaro in Greece and used for architectural ornaments as well as sculpture.
In the classical world, lions symbolized power, wealth, and might. They were famously featured in many ancient myths, perhaps the most famous being that of Heracles slaying the Nemean lion for his first labor. The lion's fur was believed to be impenetrable to attacks since, according to legend, it was made of gold and its claws were far sharper than swords with the power to slice through armor. In the end, Heracles defeated the lion by strangling it and wore its skin.
A dramatic pottery painting of Hercules actually wrestling the Nemean lion is featured on an Attic black figure neck amphora, ca. 510-500 BCE at University Museums, University of Missippi. Another Attic piece, a bilingual amphora in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, depicts Hercules wearing the lion skin (99.538) as described by Euripedes, "First he cleared the grove of Zeus of a lion, and put its skin upon his back, hiding his yellow hair in its fearful tawny gaping jaws." (Euripedes, Hercules, 359).
Provenance: Ex-private New York collection; Ex-private collection of Robert J. Molnar, Hillsdale, NJ, acquired 1960s
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#120895
- Condition: A few chips and ancient losses to peripheries. The marble has developed dark lustrous patina and encrustation over the ages.
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