Bronze statuette of Herakles

Unknown

ca. 500–475 BCE · Bronze · Greek and Roman Art

The exquisitely modeled lion-skin knotted about this figure's waist identifies Hercle (Herakles). He probably once held a club in his raised right hand; vestiges of another object are preserved on his left knee. The figure probably decorated a bronze tripod of the type made at Vulci. Herakles may have been represented with Apollo, his opponent in their struggle for the sacred Delphic Tripod, a favorite subject in Greek and Etruscan art in the late sixth and early fifth centuries B.C. and one especially appropriate for a tripod.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 500–475 BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Etruscan, Cività Castellana

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1912