The Farnese Hercules
Primary
Hendrick Goltzius
(Mülbracht, Germany, 1558–Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1617)
NationalityDutch, Europe
Datecirca 1591-1592
MediumEngraving
DimensionsSheet: 16 5/8 × 11 15/16 in. (42.2 × 30.4 cm)
Additional Dimension: 16 3/8 × 11 11/16 in. (41.6 × 29.7 cm)
Additional Dimension: 16 3/8 × 11 11/16 in. (41.6 × 29.7 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002.2173.1
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2002.2173.1/3
On View
Not on viewThis print depicts one of the most famous statues of antiquity, the monumental Hercules in the Roman collection of the noble Farnese family. It forms a series with two other engravings of the Apollo Belvedere and the Emperor Commodus as Hercules. Goltzius studied these statues and evidently prepared the engravings during a visit to Italy in 1590/91. While published only in 1617, they are capital, and justly celebrated, examples of the artist’s mature style, with virtuoso cutting, rigorous system, and extraordinary plasticity. Through this technique, Goltzius succeeded in conveying both the powerful form and lofty ethos of the prototypes. The Collection includes the complete set of the “Three Antique Roman Statues” in splendid impressions
Exhibitions
Sibling Object/Sibling Object
