Lansdowne Herakles. Roman, about 125 AD Marble at the J. Paul Getty Museum
The Getty Villa Unknown sculptor after the School of Polykleitos sculptor Roman about A D 125 Marble 70 AA 109 The Greek hero Herakles carries a club over his left shoulder and holds a lionskin in his right hand These objects help identify the figure since Herakles nearly always appears with a club and the skin of the Nemean Lion which he killed as his first labor As is typical for depictions of Greek heroes the young Herakles is shown nude since male nudity was considered the highest form of beauty by the Greeks No other god or hero is as frequently depicted in Greek and Roman art as is Herakles The Lansdowne Herakles very likely was inspired by a lost Greek statue probably from the school of Polykleitos in the 300s B C Found near the ruins of the villa of the Roman emperor Hadrian at Tivoli outside Rome this statue was one of numerous copies of Greek sculpture commissioned by Hadrian who loved Greek culture The statue was named for Lord Lansdowne who once owned the Herakles and displayed it in his home in London
Size: 3719px × 5600px
Photo credit: © Rodolfo Arpia / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: angeles, antique, art, arts, attraction, body, california, closeup, cultural, culture, gallery, getty, hercules, landmark, los, malibu, missing, museum, naked, nude, parts, paul, penis, roman, sculpture, southern, statuette, torso, tourism, tourist, villa, visitors
