Farnese Hercules

The Farnese Hercules is a colossal Roman marble statue of Hercules resting after his labors. Discovered in the Baths of Caracalla, it is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Heracles: Heracles is the Greek hero renowned for completing twelve extraordinary labors. The Roman Hercules depicted here is the counterpart of this Greek hero.
Farnese Collection: The Farnese Collection is an extensive collection of ancient art assembled by the Farnese family. The statue entered the collection that gave it its modern name.
Contrapposto: Contrapposto is a sculptural stance in which the body’s weight rests mainly on one leg, producing asymmetry. The statue’s weight shift gives its monumental body a relaxed, balanced stance.
Hercules and the Telephus Infant: Hercules and the Telephus Infant is an ancient marble group from the Farnese collection, depicting Hercules with the child Telephus. This other Farnese sculpture offers a contrasting image of the hero as a protective father.
Twelve Labors of Heracles: The Twelve Labors are a cycle of challenges Heracles performs as penance in Greek mythology. The exhausted resting pose evokes the hero after completing his legendary feats.
Pope Paul III: Pope Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese, led the Catholic Church from 1534 to 1549. His family’s patronage shaped the collection and the statue’s early modern display.
Greek sculpture: Greek sculpture is the sculptural tradition of ancient Greece, spanning archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods. The statue’s composition derives from a Greek sculptural tradition.
Hercules of the Forum Boarium: The Hercules of the Forum Boarium is a gilded bronze statue of Hercules found in Rome near the Forum Boarium. Its lean bronze body contrasts with the Farnese statue’s colossal marble mass.
Lysippos: Lysippos was a fourth-century BCE Greek sculptor known for reshaping classical proportions. The statue is associated with a lost Heracles type attributed to this sculptor.
Guglielmo della Porta: Guglielmo della Porta was an Italian sculptor and architect active in the sixteenth century. He restored missing parts of the statue, including its legs.

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