Youthful Hercules

A small bronze statue shows a nude, youthful male figure leaning on a knotted club, his weight shifted onto one leg with the other relaxed. Traces of gilding catch the light across the warm brown patina of the metal, and the figure stands on a dark green marble base against a plain gray backdrop.

Look closer: Traces of gold gilding remain on the shoulders, chest and legs, visible in the bronze surface.

Artist

Unknown

Date

possibly 16th century

Medium

Bronze with traces of gilding

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3200 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift or Irwin Untermyer, 1968