ESCUELA ITALIANA

(S.XIX)

ITALIAN SCHOOL (19TH CENTURY) "Lucius Aurelius Commodus as Hercules"

Carrara marble sculpture. This imposing sculpture, made by Italian workshops in the 19th century, is inspired by a period model preserved in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, which represents the Emperor Lucius Aurelius Commodus; last of the Antonine dynasty, son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. This model is considered one of the great masterpieces of Roman portraiture and shows the emperor characterized as the demigod Hercules, carrying some of the symbols of his main labors: the skin of the Nemean lion on his head, the club in his right hand, and the golden apples stolen in the Garden of the Hesperides. The bust rests on a pair of intertwined cornucopias or horns of plenty, the whole thing on a stipes-shaped pedestal made of white Carrara marble and veined in color. Its execution, as Giancarlo Sestieri noted in a report written in 1998, is extraordinary, as can be seen in the detailed treatment of the hair and facial features; a beautiful effect is achieved by applying a type of yellow marble to the lion's skin. Bust dimensions: 94 x 70 cm. Base dimensions: 120 x 38 cm. Total dimensions of the ensemble: 214 cm high.