Statuette of Hercules

Unknown

2nd century A.D.

Bone

J. Paul Getty Museum

A bone statuette of a muscular male figure, likely Hercules, stands in a contrapposto pose. The figure is depicted nude, with a beard and curly hair, and is supported by a broken base. Exhausted from completing his last labor, that of fetching the apples of the Hesperides, the Greek hero Herakles leans on his club. The skin of the Nemean Lion, which cushions his weight resting on the club, alludes to the hero's first labor. Roman artists took delight in the contrast of the hero's powerful, bulky muscles and his sagging, tired posture. The three-dimensional conception of the statue required that a viewer search for clues to its meaning. From the front, the cause of Herakles' tiredness is not evident. Only from the back can we see that Herakles holds the apples of the Hesperides, thereby explaining his exhaustion. N