Herakles Epitrapezios (Hercules of the Table)
Unknown Artist
1–100 CE
Medium
marble
Dimensions
48.3 × 19.7 × 27.9 cm · 26 × 19.7 × 22.9 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1955.50
About this artwork
The Roman poets Martial and Statius mention a bronze statuette made by the master Greek sculptor Lysippos (active c. 360s-310s BC). It depicted the Greek hero Herakles seated on a rock with a drinking cup and was created for Alexander the Great, who claimed Herakles as an ancestor and carried the sculpture with him on his military campaigns. Later, the work was said to have been acquired by Hannibal, Sulla, and the famed Roman art collector Novius Vindex. The statuette is called epitrapezios (on...