Italian, 18th century

Anonymous Sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 20 February 2003, lot 371;
There acquired.

This marble is based on a model that was cast in bronze during the mid-17th century by the Roman sculptor Alessandro Algardi (Bologna 1595 - 1654 Rome). Algardi's model was almost certainly inspired by antique depictions of the subject with which he would have been familiar, such as the marble in the collection of the Musei Capitolini, Rome, that depicts that same subject. The composition was taken from ancient Greek mythology and portrays the young Hercules wrestling a snake that was placed in his crib by Hera, the jealous wife of his father Zeus.