Roman Marble Head of Hercules, ex-Sotheby's

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Exceptional Antiquities Ethnographic Fine Art...

By Artemis Gallery

Mar 24, 2022

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• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. An exemplary marble sculpture, skillfully carved to depict the head of the Roman hero Hercules - Greek Herakles - slightly turned to the left and crowned by a wreath of ivy or white poplar leaves. Displaying muscular shoulders and a stocky neck, the mature demigod gazes forth from hooded eyes beneath a furrowed brow, his austere visage featuring a naturalistic nose and sunken tear troughs, all framed in a lion's mane of curls formed from the luscious locks of his beard parted on the chin by a vertical groove and a full moustache that envelops his fleshy lips, as well as the thick coils of his coiffure. Large leaves woven into a wreath crown his head, covering the tops of his swollen ears, and tying at the back with a long ribbon that ripples down his shoulders. Size: 10.1" W x 10.4" H (25.7 cm x 26.4 cm); 13.5" H (34.3 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  This example could depict Hercules during different moments, depending on if the leaves in his crown are ivy or white poplar. The ivy wreath is traditionally a symbol of Bacchus - Greek Dionysus - the Roman god of wine and the half-brother of Hercules - both fathered by Jupiter - Greek Zeus - on different mortal women. Known for his remarkable appetite for food and drink, Hercules challenged and lost a drinking contest with Bacchus and after which joined the thiasus - Bacchus' ecstatic retinue. The presence of an ivy wreath atop the head of Hercules in this example indicates that it may represent the hero during this contest or his time spent in the thiasus. If the leaves are white poplar, however, this is a portrayal of weary Hercules either crowning himself to celebrate his return from the underworld, according to Virgil's Eclogues, or when he bound his brow with a branch of poplar after defeating the fire-breathing giant Cacus in a cavern that was covered with poplar trees, according to Classical mythology. Poplar leaves were also associated with the Olympic games, which Hercules was credited with founding. Mythological tradition claimed that Hercules imported the white poplar from northwestern Greece and it was the only wood to fuel the altars in Olympia. The lengthy fillet that trails down the demigod's shoulders was also the traditional mark of an athletic victor.
  
  The story of Hercules was a popular one in ancient Rome (with much of it derived, as so many elements of Roman culture were, from Greece - entering Roman culture by way of Etruria). Both Mark Antony and the Emperor Commodus considered him to be a personal patron god. The story of Hercules and the Nemean Lion was retold over and over again, in plays and artistic depictions like painting on vases. As part of his labors, Hercules was sent by King Eurystheus to bring him the skin of a lion that was terrorizing the town of Nemea. Despite the fact that initially Hercules' arrows were utterly useless against this threatening beast, our hero ultimately succeeded, clutching the lion in his muscular arms all the while strategically avoiding its claws, finally choking it to death. The list of labors also includes slaying the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra; capturing the Golden Hind of Artemis; capturing the Erymanthian Boar; cleaning the Augean stables in one day; slaying the Stymphalian Birds; capturing the Cretan Bull; stealing the Mares of Diomedes; acquiring the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; acquiring the cattle of the monster Geryon; stealing the apples of the Hesperides; and finally, capturing Cerberus.
  
  While Sotheby's London identified this figure as Dionysus in 1991, the wine god is usually represented as a young beardless man. Though he is sometimes depicted with a longer beard and thick hair, these representations are generally reserved for Dionysian masks, banquet scenes or processions with satyrs and maenads, and hermaic pillars, according to an iconography dating back to the 5th century BCE. Alternatively, this example presents the traditional characteristics of gods, heroes, and philosophers in Classical Roman sculpture, as it shows a muscular man with a short beard, an abundance of curly hair, and a stern expression. Aside from the fact that Hercules often wears a crown of leaves in many Roman depictions, this piece clearly represents the hero due to its likeness with depictions of Herakles Bibax, as well as his closely cropped beard, short, thick neck, and swollen ears - all typical characteristics of Hercules representations, especially within the Lysippian circle.
  
  Marble statuary, reliefs, and cladding were ubiquitous in the Roman world, as the remains of the preserved cities at Herculaneum and Pompeii demonstrate. Their sculpture was intended to conjure human vitality, and was inspired by the works of Polykleitos, who became the model to which sculptors aspired in Greco-Roman as well as later Western European art. Roman statuary, unlike that of the other Mediterranean civilizations like Egypt, Persia, etc., celebrated the naturalistic human form. This included representations of their gods, like this one, who appear as if living people. For example, the famous statue of Hades with Cerberus, his three-headed dog, today on display at the Archaeological Museum of Crete, has an extremely realistic quality despite its fantastical nature, down to the details on each dog head. This suggests an intriguing, more personal relationship with the gods rather than the more abstract or magical portrayals of other contemporary societies.
  
  Cf. National Museums Liverpool, World Museum, 59.148.97 and the State Hermitage Museum, Ge symbol P-1728. A comparable Roman marble head of Hercules was sold by Christie's New York for $386,500 as lot 79 in Live Auction 2605 "Antiquities" on December 4th, 2012.
  
  Provenance: private New York, USA collection; ex-Sotheby's London, July 8, 1991, lot 259
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
  
  Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
  
  #170810

  Condition

  Fragment of a larger piece. Losses to nose, nasal bridge, proper right temple, and area on right side of hair and wreath. Chipping to forehead, eyes, and right cheek. Nicks and abrasions throughout, commensurate with age. Loss of detail and abraded area on verso with remains of another object, perhaps the hand of another figure, on the back of his lower head and neck. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining detail.
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