print;
drawing book
- Museum number
- 1850,0810.664
- Title
- Series: Signorum Veterum Icones
- Description
-
The Hercules Farnese, seen from the front; Hercules stands naked, leaning on a rock, his club and a lion skin; behind his back he holds three apples in his left hand
Etching
- Production date
- 1672-1689 (c.)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 223 millimetres
-
Width: 114 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- This etching shows the statue of the Farnese Hercules in reverse by Glycon of Athens who was working in Rome during the time of Caracalla. It was based on a lost bronze original of a smaller size which has been attributed to Lysippos and dated to the second half of the fourth century B.C. The statue was rediscovered without its legs and head in the Terme di Caracalla sometime between 1540 and 1549. Shortly afterwards Guglielmo della Porta added legs (and perhaps also a head) based on, according to a unverifiable tradition, models by Michelangelo. Probably around 1560 the original legs (and the head?) were found, but only after the statue had been transferred from the Farnese Palace in Rome to Naples at the end of the eighteenth century, all known antique parts were reunited. This etching, after drawings by Willem Doudijns, shows the statue with Della Porta's restorations, which now seem to be lost. Neither these, nor any intermediary drawings by De Bisschop have come to light. In his list of contents and locations De Bisschop says that the statue is signed by Glycon of Athens. Only in the Latin version, does he transcribe the signature in Greek characters.
The statue was depicted from four different angles, each on separate plate. For all four plates see: 1850,0810.661-664. For comment on volume see 1850,0810.652.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1850
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1850,0810.664
