Farnese Hercules
Encyclopedia
The Farnese Hercules is an ancient sculpture, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by a certain Glykon, from an original by Lysippos
(or one of his circle) that would have been made in the fourth century BC. The copy was made for the Baths of Caracalla
in Rome
(dedicated in 216 AD), where it was recovered in 1546.
is one of the most famous sculptures of Antiquity
, and has fixed the image of the mythic hero in the European imagination. It quickly made its way into the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III
. Alessandro Farnese was well placed to form one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture that has been assembled since Antiquity.
It stood for generations in its own room at Palazzo Farnese, Rome
, where the hero was surrounded by frescoed depictions of his feats by Annibale Carracci
and his studio, executed in the 1590s.
The Farnese statue was moved to Naples
in 1787 and is now displayed in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
The type was well known in Antiquity: a Hellenistic or Roman bronze reduction, found at Foligno
is conserved in the Musée du Louvre; a small marble, probably Greek of the Roman period, is to be seen in the Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens (illustration).
The Farnese Hercules is a massive and muscular marble statue, following a lost original cast in bronze
through a method called lost wax casting
. It depicts a weary Hercules
leaning on his club, which has his lion-skin draped over it. He is performing one of the last of The Twelve Labours, which is suggested by the apples of the Hesperides
he holds behind his back. This prominently-sited statue was well liked by the Romans
, and copies have been found in Roman palaces and gymnasiums: another, coarser, stood in the courtyard of Palazzo Farnese; one with the feigned (but probably ancient) inscription "Lykippos" has stood in the court of Palazzo Pitti
, Florence, since the sixteenth century.
The sculpture has been reassembled and restored by degrees. According to a letter of Guglielmo della Porta
, the head had been recovered separately, from a well in Trastevere
, and was bought for Farnese through the agency of della Porta, whose legs made to complete the figure were so well regarded that when the original legs were recovered from ongoing excavations in the Baths of Caracalla, della Porta's were retained, on Michelangelo
's advice, in part to demonstrate that modern sculptors could bear direct comparison with the ancients. The original legs, from the Borghese
collection, were not reunited with the sculpture until 1787. Goethe, in his Italian Journey, recounts his differing impressions upon seeing the Hercules with each set of legs, marvelling at the clear superiority of the original ones.
Hercules is caught in a rare moment of repose. Leaning on his knobby club which is draped with the pelt of the Nemean Lion
, he holds the apples of the Hesperides
in his right hand, but conceals them behind his back like a baseball pitcher with a knuckleball.
Many engravings and woodcuts spread the fame of the Farnese's Hercules. By 1562 the find was already included in the set of engravings for Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae ("Mirror of Rome's Magnificence")http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clan/hod_41.72%5B2.63%5D.htm and connoisseurs, artists and tourists gaped at the original, which stood in the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, protected under the arcade. In 1590-91, during his trip to Rome, Hendrik Goltzius
sketched the statue in the palazzo courtyard. Later (in 1591) Goltzius recorded the less-common rear view, in a bravura engraving (illustration, right), which emphasizes the already exaggerated muscular form with swelling and tapering lines that flow over the contours.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/engr/hod_17.37.59.htm The young Rubens made quick sketches of the Hercules' planes and massing. Before photography, prints were the only way to put the image into many hands.
The sculpture was admired from the start, reservations about its exaggerated musculature only surfacing in the later eighteenth century. Napoleon remarked to Antonio Canova
that its lack in the museum he accumulated in Paris was the most important gap in the collection, and the sculpture was more than once crated ready for shipment to Paris before the Napoleonic regime fled Naples.
Wealthy collectors could afford one of the numerous bronze replicas in sizes for table-top display. A full-size marble copy that belonged to the Bourbons of Naples is at the National Museum, Naples.
Copies of the Farnese Hercules appeared in 16th- and 18th-century gardens throughout Europe. During construction of the Alameda de Hercules (1574) in Seville
, the oldest public garden
preserved in Europe, on the cover were installed two columns from a Roman temple, an unquestionable sign of admiration for the Roman archaeological sites, elements of a building still preserved in the Marble Street. On them were placed two sculptures by Diego de Pesquera, in 1574, of the Farnese Hercules, as founder of the city, and of Julius Caesar
, restorer of Híspalis. The first was a copy of the Farnese Hercules, near the monumental size of the famous Roman marble from the Baths of Caracalla
. At Wilhelmshöhe
, near Kassel
, a colossal version 8.5 m high produced by Johann Jacob Anthoni, 1713–1717, has become the city's mascot. André Le Nôtre
placed a full-size gilded version against the skyline at the far end of the main vista at Vaux-le-Vicomte
. That at Versailles
is a copy by Jean Cornu, 1684–1686. In Scotland
a rare copy in lead
, of the first half of the 18th century, is sited incongruously in the central Highlands
, overlooking the recently restored Hercules Garden in the grounds of Blair Castle
.
Lysippos
Lysippos was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Problems confront the study of Lysippos because of the difficulty of...
(or one of his circle) that would have been made in the fourth century BC. The copy was made for the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(dedicated in 216 AD), where it was recovered in 1546.
History
The heroically-scaled HerculesHercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
is one of the most famous sculptures of Antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, and has fixed the image of the mythic hero in the European imagination. It quickly made its way into the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
. Alessandro Farnese was well placed to form one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture that has been assembled since Antiquity.
It stood for generations in its own room at Palazzo Farnese, Rome
Palazzo Farnese, Rome
Palazzo Farnese is a High Renaissance palace in Rome, which currently houses the French embassy and the Ecole Française de Rome ....
, where the hero was surrounded by frescoed depictions of his feats by Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early career:Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family...
and his studio, executed in the 1590s.
The Farnese statue was moved to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1787 and is now displayed in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
Foligno
Foligno is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system...
is conserved in the Musée du Louvre; a small marble, probably Greek of the Roman period, is to be seen in the Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens (illustration).
The Farnese Hercules is a massive and muscular marble statue, following a lost original cast in bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
through a method called lost wax casting
Lost wax casting
Lost-wax casting sometimes called by the French name of cire perdue is the process by which a metal sculpture is cast from an artist's sculpture. Intricate works can be achieved by this method, primarily depending on the carver's skills...
. It depicts a weary Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
leaning on his club, which has his lion-skin draped over it. He is performing one of the last of The Twelve Labours, which is suggested by the apples of the Hesperides
Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
he holds behind his back. This prominently-sited statue was well liked by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, and copies have been found in Roman palaces and gymnasiums: another, coarser, stood in the courtyard of Palazzo Farnese; one with the feigned (but probably ancient) inscription "Lykippos" has stood in the court of Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
, Florence, since the sixteenth century.
The sculpture has been reassembled and restored by degrees. According to a letter of Guglielmo della Porta
Guglielmo della Porta
Guglielmo della Porta was an Italian architect and sculptor of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period.He was born to a prominent North Italian family of masons, sculptors and architects. His father Giovanni Battista della Porta was a sculptor. He trained in his uncle's workshop in Genoa and...
, the head had been recovered separately, from a well in Trastevere
Trastevere
Trastevere is rione XIII of Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber". The correct pronunciation is "tras-TEH-ve-ray", with the accent on the second syllable. Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a...
, and was bought for Farnese through the agency of della Porta, whose legs made to complete the figure were so well regarded that when the original legs were recovered from ongoing excavations in the Baths of Caracalla, della Porta's were retained, on Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's advice, in part to demonstrate that modern sculptors could bear direct comparison with the ancients. The original legs, from the Borghese
Borghese
Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century holding offices under the commune. The head of the family, Marcantonio, moved to Rome in the 16th century and there,...
collection, were not reunited with the sculpture until 1787. Goethe, in his Italian Journey, recounts his differing impressions upon seeing the Hercules with each set of legs, marvelling at the clear superiority of the original ones.
Hercules is caught in a rare moment of repose. Leaning on his knobby club which is draped with the pelt of the Nemean Lion
Nemean Lion
The Nemean lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It was eventually killed by Heracles. It could not be killed with mortal weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack...
, he holds the apples of the Hesperides
Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
in his right hand, but conceals them behind his back like a baseball pitcher with a knuckleball.
Many engravings and woodcuts spread the fame of the Farnese's Hercules. By 1562 the find was already included in the set of engravings for Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae ("Mirror of Rome's Magnificence")http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clan/hod_41.72%5B2.63%5D.htm and connoisseurs, artists and tourists gaped at the original, which stood in the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, protected under the arcade. In 1590-91, during his trip to Rome, Hendrik Goltzius
Hendrik Goltzius
Hendrik Goltzius , was a Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, noted for his sophisticated technique and the "exuberance" of his compositions. According to A...
sketched the statue in the palazzo courtyard. Later (in 1591) Goltzius recorded the less-common rear view, in a bravura engraving (illustration, right), which emphasizes the already exaggerated muscular form with swelling and tapering lines that flow over the contours.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/engr/hod_17.37.59.htm The young Rubens made quick sketches of the Hercules' planes and massing. Before photography, prints were the only way to put the image into many hands.
Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor from the Republic of Venice who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh...
that its lack in the museum he accumulated in Paris was the most important gap in the collection, and the sculpture was more than once crated ready for shipment to Paris before the Napoleonic regime fled Naples.
Wealthy collectors could afford one of the numerous bronze replicas in sizes for table-top display. A full-size marble copy that belonged to the Bourbons of Naples is at the National Museum, Naples.
Copies of the Farnese Hercules appeared in 16th- and 18th-century gardens throughout Europe. During construction of the Alameda de Hercules (1574) in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, the oldest public garden
Public Garden
Public Garden is the second mini-album by Dragon Ash; released in 1997. Realism II was used as the theme for Asahi National Broadcasting Co.'s "Sports Spotters" show.-Track listing:#"Realism II" – 2:55#"Ability → Normal" – 3:05...
preserved in Europe, on the cover were installed two columns from a Roman temple, an unquestionable sign of admiration for the Roman archaeological sites, elements of a building still preserved in the Marble Street. On them were placed two sculptures by Diego de Pesquera, in 1574, of the Farnese Hercules, as founder of the city, and of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, restorer of Híspalis. The first was a copy of the Farnese Hercules, near the monumental size of the famous Roman marble from the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
. At Wilhelmshöhe
Wilhelmshöhe
Schloss Wilhelmshöhe is a palace located in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, Germany. As King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte renamed it Napoleonshöhe and appointed his Head Chamberlain Heinrich von Blumenthal as its governor, with instructions to supervise extensive renovations.After the...
, near Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, a colossal version 8.5 m high produced by Johann Jacob Anthoni, 1713–1717, has become the city's mascot. André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
placed a full-size gilded version against the skyline at the far end of the main vista at Vaux-le-Vicomte
Vaux-le-Vicomte
The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 km southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne département of France...
. That at Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
is a copy by Jean Cornu, 1684–1686. In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
a rare copy in lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, of the first half of the 18th century, is sited incongruously in the central Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, overlooking the recently restored Hercules Garden in the grounds of Blair Castle
Blair Castle
Blair Castle stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the home of the Clan Murray family, who hold the title of Duke of Atholl, though the current Duke, John Murray, lives in South Africa....
.
External links
- Goltzius' engraving at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
- Coin of Constantine the Great depicting the Farnese Hercules