Works of Art
Hellenistic Statuette of Heracles Bibax with Kantharos and Leonte
Period: 3rd – 2nd century B.C.
Culture: Hellenistic
Category: Array
Dimensions: Height: 24.3 cm.
Price: $140,000
Provenance:
Acquired on the European art market in 2001.
Condition: The state of preservation of the statuette is excellent, in spite of the fact that the bludgeon is broken; a beautiful patina covers the bronze surface.
Description
The standing hero is naked with the leonte draped over his left arm; in his outstretched right hand, he holds a kantharos. The weight of the body is supported by the left leg, which causes a slightly swaying walk.
This type of statue – modeled after a 4th century B.C. original – is called Heracles bibax; the remarkable success that it met with during Antiquity is attested to by the survival of many Roman marble copies, terracotta statuettes and bronze figurines as admirable as this one.
Bibliography
COMSTOCK M. - VERMEULE C., Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1971, p. 100, n. 106.
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae IV (LIMC), Zurich, 1988, s.v. Herakles, pp. 766-769.