Marble Head of Heracles

Culture: Roman

Period: 1st century A.D.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 18.4 cm high; 28.5 cm high (including base)

Price: 18 000 Euro

Ref: 3661

Provenance: German private collection, acquired 1981. Thence with Gorny & Mosch auction on 19 June 2013, lot 3. Thence collection A. S., Florida, USA.

Condition: Unrestored, wear on the nose. On the calotte traces of an iron tenon.

Description: Extraordinarily in detail modelled marble head of Heracles of fine crystalline marble after a Hellenistic model. The bearded half god faces slightly to the left, his expressive face is framed by the massive fur of the Nemean lion, which cascades to his nape in the back. He wears a dense, woolly beard and short, thick curls. The gaze from deeply set eyes under bulging brows is determined, the mouth slightly open. The fleshy face with masterly accentuated muscle parts and prominent forehead lend the hero authority and greatness. The high-quality head follows a late Hellenistic version which is to be interpreted as a remodelling of the famous type of Antalya Borghese from Lysippos. Here Heracles is depicted resting on his club with the lion scalp on his head. The paws of the animal are knotted below his chin. See Sascha Kansteiner “Lysipps Statuen des Herakles”, in: Archäologischer Anzeiger, volume 1, 2020, pages 121-137, figure 14. For the Hellenistic remodelling, which the present head followed in Roman times, see Sascha Kansteiner “Herakles: die Darstellungen in der Grossplastik der Antike”, Köln 2000, pages 32ff., f. 45-48. Mounted.