Subject
Statue depicting an adult man in the guise of Hercules, in heroic nudity and with a lion’s skin over its head. Both hands are missing: the right hand grabbed a club and the right one probably handed out the apples of the Hesperides. On the left side there is the quiver. Found in fragments on January 2023 during the replacement of a main sewer, this statue is a typical example of the imitatio Herculis phenomenon belonging to emperors and powerful Roman men.
Accession number 23.M322-1.1
Pentelic marble
Height 208 cm
Full body. The right hand, the left forearm and part of the right ankle are missing.
Half of 3rd cent. A.D.
Provenance
Found in the Ardeatino Park (Scott Park), during a significant overhaul and remediation of the sewer conduit by Acea
Placement
Casale di Santa Maria Nova – Villa dei Quintili
Credits
Appia Antica Archaeological Park (pictures by Stefano Castellani)
References
F.R. Paolillo, Statua di personaggio in veste di Ercole da Roma, Parco Ardeatino in L’istante e l’eternità. Tra noi e gli antichi. A cura di M. Osanna, S. Verger, M.L. Catoni, D. Athanasoulis, Milano 2023, p. 285.
