Anna Marston
Associate Specialist
Lot 44*
An Etruscan bronze figure of Herakles
6 July 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,560 inc. premium
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Siobhan Quin
Senior Specialist
Francesca Hickin
Head of Department
An Etruscan bronze figure of Herakles
Circa 4th-3rd Century B.C.
13cm high
Circa 4th-3rd Century B.C.
13cm high
Footnotes
Provenance:
Ruspoli collection.
Private collection Ticino, Switzerland.
with Galleria Serodine, Ascona, 1998.
Private collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above 4 December 1999.
Herakles, or Hercle, was more god than hero to the Etruscans, as attested by the numerous sanctuaries dedicated to him, and the large number of surviving statuettes, which likely served a votive purpose. He is first recorded in Etruria in the 7th Century B.C., and his legendary exploits rapidly became a favourite subject of Etruscan imagery. For another statuette of attacking Herakles, see M. Comstock and C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan & Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 1971, p. 163, no. 185.
In style, this figure seems to belong to the "Trivento group", a class of bronzes produced in Southwestern Italy - from these examples, it is clear this figure once held a club in the raised right hand (A.-M. Adam, Bronzes Étrusques et Italiques, Bibliothèque nationale, Département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques, Paris 1984, pp. 190, nos. 291-292).