Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART: Hercules of the Theatre of Pompey

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title: 
Hercules of the Theatre of Pompey
Alternate Title: 
Colossal Statue of Hercules
Image View: 
Detail, left side, hand holding club vertically
Creator: 
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location: 
repository: Musei Vaticani (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy) Inv. 252
Location Note: 
Pio Clementino Museum, Round Hall
GPS: 
+41.906389+12.454444
Date: 
ca. late 1st-early 3rd centuries CE (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Roman (ancient)
Style Period: 
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1: 
sculpture (visual work)
Classification: 
sculpture
Material: 
bronze gilded with gold
Technique: 
casting (process); gilding (technique)
Measurements: 
12 ft (height)
Description: 
This gilded bronze statue was found in 1864 beneath the courtyard of the Palazzo Pio Righetti, near Campo de' Fiori, and in the area of Pompey's Theatre. Shortly afterwards it was given to Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). At the moment of discovery the statue was lying horizontally in a trench and covered by a slab of travertine on which the letters F C S (Fulgur Conditum Summanium) had been cut. The statue had, therefore, been struck by lightning and, following the Roman custom, had been granted a ritual burial together with the remains of a lamb. The statue was restored by Pietro Tenerani who made repairs using plaster and bronze. It shows a young Heracles leaning on his club, with the skin of the Nemean lion over his arm, and the apples of the Hesperides in his left hand. The work was, perhaps, inspired by a model from the Attic School of between 390 and 370 BCE and has been variously dated to between the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 3rd century CE. (Source: Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) [website]; http://mv.vatican.va/)
Collection: 
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier: 
7A3-R-VM-HTP-A17
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.