Hercules
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1 AD - 150 AD (Torso c. A.D. 1-150; restorations, c. 1750-80) - 1750 - 1780 (Torso c. A.D. 1-150; restorations, c. 1750-80)
Materials
Marble
Measurements
1580 x 810 x 550 mm
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 772410.4
Summary
Standing figure of the god Hercules shown naked, young and unbearded, with ivy in his hair. He holds a club in right hand and apples of the Hesperides in the left. To his left a support over which is draped the skin of the Nemean lion. Italian, probably Rome, 18th century, a restored antiquity. The torso and legs much made up; the head restored, and the arms and club. The base section appears to be original.
Full description
The type of Hercules in this statue, young and unbearded, with ivy in his hair and a fillet, the ribbons of which hang down towards the back, is a type that is sometimes known as the Genzano-type, from the best-known example, a head of the god found in Genzano, a town just south of Rome, in Lazio. This was discovered in 1777 and sold to the collector Charles Townley through the dealer Thomas Jenkins, and is now in the British Museum (Inv. GR 1805,0703.76). (Jeremy Warren, 2017)
Provenance
Probably acquired for Robert Adam's remodeling of the Marble Hall in the 1760s. First recorded in 1782 inventory of Osterley in the Marble Hall. Purchased from George Child-Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998) by HM Government in 1949 for the Nation and vested in the Victoria and Albert Museum; transferred to the National Trust in 2002.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Osterley Park, The Jersey Collection)
References
Tomlin, 1986: Maurice Tomlin. “The 1782 inventory of Osterley Park.” Furniture History 22 (1986): pp.107-134., p.122