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View: Proper right profile
Figurine of Herakles shooting his bow
Greek
Archaic Period
about 550 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Overall: 6.7 × 1.6 × 6.9 cm (2 5/8 × 5/8 × 2 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.657
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 021; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 118 (additional published references).
DescriptionOrnament from the rim of a vessel (?); the place of attachment on the left side shows that the figure was to be seen in profile to the right and was applied to a curved surface. Herakles is in the archaic running, kneeling posture. The hero is bearded and wears a tight-fitting cloth cap (or his hair in a rolled fillet) and a small cuirass with cloth belt around the waist. His lion's skin is worn as a tunic under the cuirass, the animal's head coming down on the right thigh and the paws on the left. Right arm and hand, and part of bow-string missing. Dark greenish brown patina.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to his records: purchased from Rhousopoulos who said it came from Macedonia from near Amphipolis); 1898: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 69,618.13 (this figure is the total price for MFA 98.641-98.940)