Hercules and Antaeus
Sketch Model
ca. 1622 (made)
ca. 1622 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Clays come from decomposed rocks ground down by weathering. Skill is needed in preparing wet clay to give it strength and ease of modelling, also to remove excess water and air before it is fired in a kiln. Firing fuses the clay particles and causes other structural changes that affect the colour and lead to shrinkage of about 10%. Comparatively few works in unfired clay survive because they are fragile and easily damaged.
This group is unfired but has been coated. It has been damaged, but it is unusual for such a large unfired object to survive at all. Hercules is wrestling with the giant Antaeus, whose strength flowed from the earth. He holds Antaeus aloft and is squeezing him to death.
This group is unfired but has been coated. It has been damaged, but it is unusual for such a large unfired object to survive at all. Hercules is wrestling with the giant Antaeus, whose strength flowed from the earth. He holds Antaeus aloft and is squeezing him to death.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Hercules and Antaeus (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Unfired clay |
| Brief description | Sketch model, group, unbaked clay, Hercules and Antaeus, by Stefano Maderno, Italy, Rome, ca. 1622 |
| Physical description | Unbaked clay group depicting Hercules and Antaeus. Hercules stands knotting his arms around the lifted Antaeus, who clutches at his face and shoulder and grips him with his right leg. On an oblong base with a tree stump support. |
| Dimensions |
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| Historical context | The group was acquired as a model by Ammanati for the fountain group at the Villa Reale de Castello, to which it is not in fact related. A slightly smaller version in terracotta of the same composition in the Ca d'Oro at Venice bears the signature of Maderno and the date 1622. Several bronze versions exist of the same size as the terracotta in Venice |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Clays come from decomposed rocks ground down by weathering. Skill is needed in preparing wet clay to give it strength and ease of modelling, also to remove excess water and air before it is fired in a kiln. Firing fuses the clay particles and causes other structural changes that affect the colour and lead to shrinkage of about 10%. Comparatively few works in unfired clay survive because they are fragile and easily damaged. This group is unfired but has been coated. It has been damaged, but it is unusual for such a large unfired object to survive at all. Hercules is wrestling with the giant Antaeus, whose strength flowed from the earth. He holds Antaeus aloft and is squeezing him to death. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 7716-1863 |
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| Record created | September 6, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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