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Scarab with Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion
Italic, Etruscan
Classical Period
430–320 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Carnelian
Dimensions
Length: 16 mm (5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by contribution
Accession Number01.7605
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Scarabs and scaraboids
DescriptionIntaglio. Motif oriented vertically. Herakles, squatting, while wrestling the Nemean lion. Herakles, facing right, is nude and beardless. Herakles' torso is in three-quarters view, with head and legs in profile. The lion is positioned over Herakles' left shoulder, and bites his left thigh. The lion has a wild mane and prominent eyes indicated by deeply carved round dots. The lion's head is frontal and body in profile. Herakles grasps the lion around its neck. Behind Herakles, at left, his club. Hatched border.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Rome.); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, 1901