This statuette is solid cast in a light brown, slightly golden, bronze alloy. It has traces of an original cupric green, all’antica patina, which was possibly applied to emulate the oxidised ancient bronzes that were being discovered and reappraised during this period. As is typical of early casts, there is a lack of extensive finishing (chiselling, filing etc.) of the object’s surface, however, the areas of the feet and face have been delicately hammered, leaving a beautifully undulating surface. The details such as the eyes, pupils, hair, toes and fingers are sharply incised in a manner which is endearingly expressive. These characteristics combine to strongly indicate an early 16th century date of execution, likely in one of the northern Italian city states of Padua, Ferrara, or the Veneto region. In these university cities, a febrile intellectual humanist culture inspired the production and collection of bronze statuettes after the surviving antique examples.

The composition of this figure follows the monumental ancient gilt bronze statue of Hercules in Rome’s Capitoline Museum, which stands at 241 cm high. Helbig dated the bronze to the 2nd century B.C. and believed it to be an adaption of a 4th century B.C. bronze by Lysippus. It was perhaps the statue brought to Rome by Pompey or Lucullus, that is recorded by Pliny as being in the Temple of Hercules Victor near the Foro Boario. It was first recorded for certain in 1510, after being excavated during the papacy of Sixtus IV (1471 – 84), likely at the site of the Foro Boario and taken to the papal residence during Sixtus’ lifetime. By 1556 it was placed in a room adjoining the main hall. As a large and remarkably intact ancient bronze it was always very famous and greatly admired. It was illustrated in Felini’s guidebook of Rome of 1610 and was included in most other guidebooks of the eternal city’s antiquities. It was not taken by the French under the terms of the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) and remains in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of Rome’s Musei Capitolini.

Following the ancient archetype in the Capitoline Museum, Hercules is depicted here in heroic nudity and stands elegantly in classical contrapposto, with his head turned slightly to the right. He presents an empty left hand (with some fingers broken), which would have held the golden apples of Hesperides relating to his 11th labour. In his right hand he would have held a large club which he used repeatedly to vanquish foes during his ‘Twelve Labours’. The demi-god Hercules was one of the most beloved characters from ancient mythology and the personification of physical strength and courage. His completion of the ‘Labours’ represented good’s triumph over evil, against the odds.

This statuette relates to a handful of Italian renaissance bronzes made during late 15th – early 16th centuries. It has a similar type of youthful and lean athletic physique as the resting Hercules models at the Museo Estense, Modena and Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum. The figure’s slim waisted torso, elongated limbs, with large hands and feet, also draws comparisons with Michelangelo's iconic marble statue of David from 1501 – 1504. The Florentine connection is reinforced through the existence a slightly later version of the present work in Florence’s esteemed Museo Nazionale del Bargello collection. The old museum label describes it as: ‘Ercole (dall’Ercole Capitolino), Veneto, inizi sec. XVI, Inv.412’. The modelling and cast quality of the present bronze is also comparable to a work that depicts Hercules Resting in the collection of the K. K. Kunsthistorisches Hofmuseum, Vienna (now part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) which was built in 1871 to house the imperial art collection of the emperor. The exaggerated contrapposto stance, together with the flexibility and action of the limbs appears to mirror the stance of present bronze, almost representing its compositional counterpart. Both figure’s pubic areas are similarly flat and summarily modelled, whilst the tiny hammer marks on the face of the Vienna bronze is akin to the finishing technique used on the feet of our model. In addition, the faces of each work also appear to have the same style of sharply incised eyes and pupils. Links have also been made between the present bronze and statuettes associated with the Paduan sculptor and goldsmith Francesco da Sant’Agata. The contrapposto stance, movement and delicate modelling of the limbs resembles a bronze Hercules of similar dimensions that is attributed to Sant’Agata in the collection of the Minneapolis Museum of Art. The proportions and composition is also reminiscent of Sant’Agata’s only known signed and documented work: Hercules wielding a club, in the Wallace Collection, London.

Bibliography:

Bode, W. The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance, vol.2, London, 1907. pl. IC

Ebert-Schifferer, S. Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, Frankfurt, 1985