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Limestone Herakles

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Limestone Herakles

Period:
Archaic
Date:
ca. 530–520 B.C.
Culture:
Cypriot
Medium:
Limestone
Dimensions:
H. 85 1/2 in. (217.2 cm)
Classification:
Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:
The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76
Accession Number:
74.51.2455

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 174

  • Description

    The statue was considerably reworked by Cesnola's "restorers" so that numerous features of the original are no longer clear. The proper left arm and the legs were certainly reattached; the original position of the right arm has also been obscured. Herakles wears a tunic, belt, modified kilt, and lionskin. In his left hand he held a bow, half of which appears against his body. (The pickle-shaped club that he brandished for many decades was added in modern times and has been removed.) On his right thigh are the ends of the arrows that he held in his right hand. Although the head 74.51.2857 indicates that Cypriot sculptors were working on a large scale as early as the beginning of the sixth century B.C., it was only during the second half of the century that monumental pieces were produced in some quantity.

  • Provenance

    Sanctuary of Golgoi–Ayios Photios, “first site”

  • References

    Karageorghis, Vassos. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus. The Cesnola Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 190, pp. 123-25.

    Picón, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 289, pp. 248, 463.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
130002474:3

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