Hercules and Antaeus

1600–1625

Italian
After designs by Giambologna (Flemish, active Italy, 1529–1608)

Both this bronze and it’s companion represent legendary struggles related to Hecules’s labors, a frequent source of inspiration for Renaissance and later art. The figures may derive from a lost series of silver statuettes cast after models by Giambologna during the last quarter of the 16th century. Their virtuoso displays of movement, which seem to transform violent struggle into ballet, reflect the sculptor’s intense preoccu-pation with the human form. Bronzes after Giambologna’s models were popular during his lifetime and later, and they were often studied by painters like Tintoretto, who made drawings from such models.

Status: On View, Gallery 205
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Italian
Title: Hercules and Antaeus
Place: Italy (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Cast 1600–1625
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: H.: 48.6 cm (19 1/8 in.); With base: 53.7 × 35.6 × 35.6 cm (21 1/8 × 14 × 14 in.)
Credit Line: Robert Allerton Endowment
Reference Number: 1968.612
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/30354/manifest.json

Wilhelm von Bode, Die italianischen Bronzestatuetten der Renaissance (Berlin, 1907), p. 5, pl. 196.
Marguerite B. Williams, “Showing a Famous Collection,” Chicago Daily News (August 20, 1930).
John Maxon, “Painting and Sculpture,” Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report 1968-69, pp. 16–17, ill. opp. inside cover.
Joseph Rishel, “Two Bronzes by Giovanni da Bologna,” Calendar of the Art Institute of Chicago 63, 5 (1969), fig. 1.
Jennifer Montagu, “The Giambologna Exhibition (Edinburgh, London & Vienna) & ‘Sculpture and Designs for Sculpture’ at the Royal Scottish Museum,” Burlington Magazine 120 (1978), p. 693.
L[inda] K[linger] in Irving Lavin, Drawings by Gianlorenzo Bernini from the Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, German Democratic Republic, exh. cat., Princeton University Art Museum, 1981, pp. 57, 59 n. 7, fig. 38.
C. Willemijn Fock, “The Original Silver Casts of Giambologna’s Labours of Hercules,” Studien zum europäischen Kunsthandwerk, Festschrift Yvonne Hackenbroch, edited by Jörg Rasmussen (Munich, 1983), p. 143, fig. 2.
Christian Theuerkauff, “Fragen zur Ulmer Kleinplastik im 17./18. Jahrhundert–I. David Heschler (1611–1667) und sein Kreis,” Alte und moderne Kunst 28, 190/191 (1983), p. 27, fig. 13.
Charles Avery, Bernini. Genius of the Baroque (Boston, New York, Toronto and London, 1997), pp. 48-49, fig. 50.
Matthias Winner in Bernini scultore: La nascita del barocco in Casa Borghese, Anna Coliva and Sebastian Schütze, eds., exh. cat., Rome, Galleria Borghese, 1998, pp. 191, 203 n. 23, fig. 2.
C.D. Dickerson III, “Bernini at the Beginning: The Formation of a Master Modeler” in Bernini, Sculpting in Clay, exh. cat., New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, 2012, pp. 19, 373 n. 64, fig. 15

Berlin, Königlichen Akademie der Künste, Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst aus dem Privatbesitz von Mitgliedern des Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Vereins, May 1914, no. 285.
Monaco, Hôtel de Sagan, Exposition d’objets d’art du moyen âge et de la renaissance, May – June 1914, no. 26.
Art Institute of Chicago, Summer Loan Exhibition, 1930, no cat. no.
Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures of Chicago Collectors, 15 April – 5 May 1961 [no cat.].
Art Institute of Chicago, Small Bronzes from Chicago Collections, 22 July – 8 October 1972 [no cat.].
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Museum, Giambologna, 1529–1608: Sculptor to the Medici, 19 August – 10 September 1978, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 5 October – 16 November 1978, and Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 2 December 1978 – 28 January 1979, no. 88.

Eduard Simon, Berlin, by 1907 [see Bode 1907]; his sale, Cassirer and Helbing, Berlin, October 11, 1929, lot 52. Max and Leola Epstein, Chicago, by 1930 [according to registrar’s record and letter from Max Epstein, April 21, 1930, copy in curatorial file; see also Williams 1930]; by descent to their daughter, Mrs. Frank (Jay) Selz, New York, by 1961 [lent by her to Chicago 1961]; sold to the Art Institute, 1968.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.