Faculty of Classics - University of Cambridge

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Farnese Heracles

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this statue of Heracles is its size; it stands at 3.15 metres, almost ten and a half feet. It shows the Greek hero leaning on his customary wooden club, here cushioned by a lionskin. His downcast eyes, together with his pose, suggest that Heracles has been exhausted by his Labours – and it is on account of this that the sculpture has gained its name, the Weary Heracles. In case we were to think that his latest Labour had got the better of him, however, there’s a surprise in store when we look behind the back of the statue: two golden apples. These apples reveal that, weary or not, Heracles has nevertheless accomplished his assigned task. This particular marble statue was found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, although it copies a bronze statue attributed to the Greek sculptor Lysippus who lived in the fourth century BCE. That statue seems to have been almost as famous in antiquity as it has been in Western art since its rediscovery in 1546.

Further reading:
M. Beard and J. Henderson, Classical Art from Greece to Rome, 199–202