Statuette of Hercules

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. Nonetheless, many of the Roman versions of this sculpture were displayed in niches or up against walls, making it difficult to see the apples in Herakles’ hand. We do not know how this miniature would have been displayed by its ancient owners, but its smaller size may have made it easier to see from all sides. 

Referred to by scholars as the "weary Herakles" or the "Farnese" type, after the most famous replica in the Farnese collection, this Roman statuette is a version of a Greek bronze life-size statue of the late 400s B.C. by the sculptor Lysippos. Copies and adaptations of the "weary Herakles" were immensely popular in the Roman world. Lysippos's statue was copied in every scale from miniature to twice life-size and in many media. The curvature of the pose fits well with the natural curve of the bone used for this statuette, but the fragility of the material led to the loss of Herakles' leg.