The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Head of Herakles Refashioned as a Weight
300–200 BCE
Overall: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Location: 102C Greek
Did You Know?
Romans filled their weights with lead because it was plentiful, cheap, and easy to shape.Description
Even without his club or lion skin, the short curly hair and full curly beard identify this miniature head as that of Herakles. The eyes and mouth were likely once inlaid. His upward gaze suggests the head may be based on the Herakles Epitrapezios by Lysippos, the personal sculptor of Alexander the Great. The original Herakles Epitrapezios survives only through copies, including this one as well as a slightly later marble version also in Cleveland (among many others). This head was refashioned into a weight, probably in the Roman period, by filling it with lead and adding holes for a hook.- Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1971.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (1972): 3–46. Reproduced: p. 5, Mentioned: p. 40. www.jstor.orgUhlenbrock, Jaimee Pugliese. Herakles: Passage of the Hero Through 1000 Years of Classical Art. New Rochelle, N.Y.: A.D. Caratzas, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced p. 82. cat. no. 44
- The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).Edith C. Blum Art Center of Bard College, NY, "Herakles: Celebration of a Hero," March 1-May 31, 1986.Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
- {{cite web|title=Head of Herakles Refashioned as a Weight|url=false|author=|year=300–200 BCE|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.71