Inscribed Statuette of Hercle

Place of OriginItaly, stylistically attributed to Caere (Cerveteri)

Date425-350 BCE

Dimensions9 1/2 × 5 × 3 1/4 in. (24.1 × 12.7 × 8.3 cm)
base: 8 × 3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (20.3 × 7.9 × 7.9 cm)

Mediumbronze

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1978.22

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionA bronze figure depicting the Etruscan version of the hero Hercules. The figure is shown standing with most of its weight on the right leg, with the left leg slightly bent and angled outward. Hercle holds a small club raised in his right hand, while his left hand grasps a short bow. His head is crowned with a lion's skin, draped over his shoulders and tied across his chest, with the lion’s head resting on top of his own. The lion’s skin drapes down his back, with textured details that suggest its fur. The face of the figure is youthful and clean-shaven, with curled hair and faintly defined facial features. An Etruscan inscription, “Hercales mi” (meaning “I am of Hercle”), is carved into the surface of his right thigh. The base or feet of the statuette are missing, so it cannot stand on its own.

Label TextThe statuette represents a youthful, beardless Hercle (Etruscan Hercules) in a dynamic yet elegant posture, wielding a club and holding a small bow. The anatomical details are meticulously rendered, making it one of the finest examples of Etruscan small-scale bronze sculpture, possibly reflecting larger Greek Classical models. However, unlike typical Greek representations, Etruscan depictions of Hercle often emphasize his youthful, vigorous, and protective aspects, aligning him closely with local Etruscan beliefs about divine guardianship. The statuette’s exact origin remains uncertain. Recent scholarship has suggested a connection to Caere (modern Cerveteri), possibly from a sanctuary associated with Hercle. This theory is partly based on stylistic similarities to other Etruscan artifacts found in Cerveteri and the presence of an Etruscan inscription on the statuette's right thigh, which reads, "Hercales mi" ("I am of Hercle"), reinforcing its ritual function as a votive offering.Published References"1978 Annual Report," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 6, repr.

"La chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-arts, no. 1334, Mar. 1980, p. 27, repr.

Knox, Bernard, “The Enduring Myths of Ancient Greece,” Humanities, vol. 5, no. 1, February 1984, p. 3, repr.

Bonfante, Larissa, ed., Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1986, p. 20, fig. I-1.

Kozloff, Arielle P., “The Human Form in Classical Bronze,” Archaeology, vol. 41, no. 6, November/December 1988, p. 56, repr. (col.) p. 57.

Fabing, Suzannah, in The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, edited by Arielle P. Kozloff and David Gordon Mitten, Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988, pp.180, 181, 182, 184, 250-254.

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, Zurich, 1990, v. V, pt. 1, p. 201, no. 23, repr. v. V pt. 2, pl. 165.

Wallace, Rex, “An Etruscan Inscription on a Statuette of Herakles,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, vol. 98, 1993, pp. 195-198, pl. 13.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 43, repr. (col.).

De Grummond, Nancy Thomson, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006, pp. 177, 183, fig. VIII.5.

Colonna, Giovanni, “Le Inscrizioni Votive Etrusche,” Scienze dell'Antichità: Storia, Archeologia, Antropologia, vol. 3-4, 1989-1990, pp. 899-901, figs. 17-18.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 79, repr. (col.).

Bellelli, Vincenzo, “Un bronzetto etrusco, Cerveteri e le ‘Acque di Ercole,’” Mediterranea, vol. III, 2006 (published 2007), pp. 173-225, repr. pp. 174, 180, 181, 184, 196.

Tuck, Steven L., A History of Roman Art, Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, repr. pl. 3.16, p. 67.

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, The gods delight, 1988-1989, no. 46, pp. 250-254, repr. (col.) and various views.