Italian, probably Rome, 17th / 18th century, after the Antique
Head of the Farnese Hercules
No reserve
Auction Closed
November 6, 07:36 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
terracotta, with some remnants of an old bronze patina; on a later wood base
Head: 11.5cm., 4½in.
base: 5.5cm., 2⅛in.
A. Grassi collection, Florence (1951);
Sotheby's New York, 24 October 2002, lot 728;
Sotheby's London, 5 December 2007, lot 49;
Where acquired.
This small head, admirably modelled, is derived from the colossal Ancient marble, first mentioned in Rome around 1549-50, in the Farnese Palace (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, inv. 6001). The Farnese Hercules was copied many times from the second half of the 16th century onwards, by young sculptors eager to learn from the most illustrious Ancient models.
RELATED LITERATURE
F. Haskell, N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, revised and expanded edition by A. Aymonino and E. Dodero, vol. 1, Turnhout, 2024, pp. 342-49, no. 46.
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