When we visit museums of ancient art, we usually admire marble or bronze sculptures depicting beautiful figures – gods, goddesses, heroes, warriors, nymphs, etc. The art of those times is associated with the cult of the beauty of the human body, youth, harmonious proportions, classic beauty, well-groomed muscles. e.t.c.
But that’s not entirely true. The ancient Greeks and Romans, just like us, were aware of the transience of beauty and the aging of the human body.
That’s why today Hercules: not the Farnesian type, not the strong and muscular one like Pudzian. Here, Hercules is already fat, has a slightly chubby face and generally looks “under-daddy”. It is clear at first glance that our hero’s best years and the famous “twelve labors” are long behind him. The Nemean Lion’s skin fits slightly over a belly worthy of a Pooh Bear. The body bent into an arch, transferring all its weight to the right leg, the left leg bent at the knee, the proudly outstretched chest – all this invariably reminds me of the attitude of Greek athletes immortalized by Lysippus and other chisel masters (think of the statue of Apoxyomenos). Maybe this is a deliberate joke by the sculptor? Or perhaps the elderly Hercules – nonchalantly looking into the distance and proudly carrying on his back the proof of his glorious past and great achievements – is proof of the ancient people’s distance from themselves, respect for old age, and, above all, humility towards the passing of time, which even a demigod cannot overcome. oppose?
The sculpture in the photo is a Roman copy from the 2nd century CE, based on a Greek original, probably from the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. You can see it in the Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme museum in Rome.
