Hercules, who defeated the Nemean lion in his first Labour, used his impregnable crocodile’s skin as a cuirass and a lion’s head as a helmet. Alexander the Great was represented in a similar manner following his heroic conquest of the East, as was the Emperor Commodus at a later date. This classicising bust looks back to Roman models in the ducal palace in Mantua and in the Villa Albani in Rome.
Hübner, Emil, Die Antiken Bildwerke in Madrid, Druck Und Verlag Von Georg Reimer, Berlín, 1862, pp. 93,94.
Barrón, Eduardo, Catálogo de la escultura. Museo Nacional de Pintura y Escultura, Imprenta y fototipia J. Lacoste, Madrid, 1908, pp. 232, n.334.
Arndt, P.; Amelung, W, Photographische Einzelaufnahmen antiker Skulpturen, Múnich, 1912.
Blanco Freijeiro, Antonio, Catálogo de la escultura. Museo del Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 1957, pp. 119.
Blanco, Antonio; Lorente, Manuel, Catálogo de la escultura. Museo del Prado (2ª ed.), Patronato Nacional de Museos, Madrid, 1981, pp. 114.
Walker, Stefanie, The sculpture Gallery of Prince Livio Odescalchi, Journal of the history of collections, VI, 1994, pp. 189-219.
Anes, Gonzalo, Las colecciones reales y la fundación del Museo del Prado, Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1996, pp. 316.
Coppel Areizaga, Rosario, Catálogo de la escultura de época moderna. Museo del Prado: siglos XVI-XVIII, Museo del Prado; Fundación Marcelino Botín, Madrid, 1998, pp. 234.
Elvira Barba, Miguel Angel, Las esculturas de Cristina de Suecia: un tesoro de la Corona de España, Real Academia de Historia, pp. 35,75 / 89.
Museo Real de Pinturas a la muerte de Fernando VII, 1834.
Núm. fol. 26v.
Otro id. [busto] con vasa negra, que representa un Hercules ... 1200
Inv. Real Museo, Sección Escultura, 1857.
Núm. 276.
276. Un busto de marmol griego que representa a Hercules. Alto 2p. 6 lin- Id. la base 7 pulg.
334.
Inscribed in black.
Plinth
334
Scrap of paper.
On underside
X [sobre el hombro izquierdo]
Cross of Burgundy or Cross of Saint Andrew, collection’s mark belonged to King Felipe V.
Inscription on shoulder
Room 031 (On Display)
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