New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2008.

Bust of Hercules

Artist Unknown

Date1500-1550

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
Base: 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number77.1259.3

Terms

Bronze

On View

On view

DescriptionBronze sculpture of a bust of Hercules, as a hunter with silvered eyes. It shows a well-defined musculature and shoulders. His hair is wavy. There is a small piece of drapery over his right shoulder. Looking downward, he wears a mustache and beard.

Label TextBust of Hercules, early 1500s Italian Bronze The ancient hero Hercules used his superhuman strength and cunning to complete 12 valorous acts as atonement for his misdeeds. Renaissance humanists imagined him as the embodiment of virtue and spiritual victory—a symbol of physical power in the service of moral duty. Like the other sculptures in this case, the Bust of Hercules may have adorned a scholar’s desk, where it symbolized the classical past while serving as an object of contemplation and aesthetic delight. Look especially for the silver insets in Hercules’ eyes. They reflect his intensity and fortitude. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.1259.3