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<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3651278, member: 83845"]Last year one of my favorite acquisitions was my follis of Maximinus Daia showing what is referred to as the “Farnese Hercules” type. This design was based on a Greek statue made by one of the most renowned ancient artists of all time. I recently re-photographed another Roman coin in my collection showing the same theme but with some subtle differences that I think are important and interesting to note. Additionally, last year I had the good fortune to see many of the sculptures I discuss below in person.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]981373[/ATTACH] </p><p><font size="3">Roman Empire</font></p><p><font size="3">Maximinus Daia (AD 308 - 313)</font></p><p><font size="3">AE Follis, Antioch mint, struck ca. AD 313</font></p><p><font size="3">Dia.: 20.5 mm</font></p><p><font size="3">Wt.: 3.9 g</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG; Laureate bust right</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: HERCVLI VICTORI; Hercules standing right, leaning on lions skin and club</font></p><p><font size="3">Ref.: RIC VI 170b, Scarce</font></p><p><i><font size="3">Ex FSR, lot 370 (Jul. 2018)</font></i></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]980834[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Roman Empire</font></p><p><font size="3">Gordian III (238-244)</font></p><p><font size="3">AR Antoninianus, Rome mint</font></p><p><font size="3">Dia.: 24.5 mm</font></p><p><font size="3">Wt.: 3.89g</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG; Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. </font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: VIRTVTI AVGVSTI; The Farnese Hercules: statue of Hercules right, with apples of the Hesperides and lion skin, and leaning upon club. </font></p><p><font size="3">RIC 95.</font></p><p><i><font size="3">Ex AMCC 1, lot 236 (Dec. 2018)</font></i></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b>The Weary Herakles and its many Imitators</b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>The Weary Herakles was created in about 320 BC by the master sculptor Lysippos of Sikyon. The original statue was produced late in the great artist’s career and was probably a life-size bronze. Pausanias makes a possible reference to this statue when he mentions a Hercules by Lysippos on display in the agora of Sikyon in the second century AD [2] (2.9.8).</p><p><br /></p><p>The statue showed a nude Herakles, resting on his club over which was draped the skin of the Nimean Lion. It captured the hero in the moment after he had finished holding up the cosmos in place of Atlas. By showing Herakles in such an informal and human light Lysippos was doing something that had never been done before. In Herakles’s right hand (held behind his back) the artist placed the apples of the Hesperides in order to show clearly that, while tired, the hero was nonetheless victorious in his labor.</p><p><br /></p><p>The work was one of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world and was also one of the most copied pieces of art in antiquity. More than 50 copies in various states of preservation are known to have survived into the present day [1]. The most famous of these is known as the Farnese Hercules. The Farnese Hercules was made sometime before AD 216 and housed in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. It was unearthed there in AD 1546 and spent the next several centuries in the collection of the Farnese family from which the sculpture gets its name. It was signed by the artist who created it, Glykon of Athens.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b>Variations of the Iconic Archetype</b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>Because the Weary Herakles archetype was popular for such a long period of time, several variations on the original were eventually developed. The Lysippos original did not survive antiquity but through careful study of the surviving examples many scholars believe they can determine which pieces were closest artistically to the original. Vermeule proposes that the existing statues fall into 4 groups [1].</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><b>Group 1</b>: Statues closest to the original</p><p><b>Group 2</b>: Statues that show an early Hellenistic influence</p><p><b>Group 3</b>: Statues that show a late Hellenistic and early Roman influence</p><p><b>Group 4</b>: Statues that are heavily influenced by the Roman style</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The differentiators between some of the groups are probably more academic than most will find interesting but from what I can see there is a clear delineation between Groups 2 and 3 that would be clear to even a casual observer. Below is a breakdown of my observations on the groups.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><font size="5"><span style="color: #404040"><b>Naturalistic Herakles</b></span></font> <span style="color: #808080">(Groups 1 and 2)</span>: Statues in this category tend to be closer to the original Lysippos sculpture. The proportions are slender and elegant. The head is often smaller in proportion to the body. The figure is muscled but not unrealistically so. The expression of the face conveys a sense that the figure is fatigued and weary. Some examples of this style;</p><ul> <li>The statue of Hercules discovered in the Gymnasium at Salamis. 2nd century AD (Group 1)</li> <li>The statue of Hercules in the Ufizzi Gallery. 2nd century AD (Group 2)</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH=full]980831[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3"><i>Figure 1: Copies of the Weary Hercules type that more closely mirror the original. Left: Statue recovered from the ruins of the Gymnasium of Salamis, Cyprus (Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/22310868469/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/22310868469/" rel="nofollow">Carole Raddato</a>). Right: Statue on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy (Author's photo).</i></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><span style="color: #404040"><b>Exaggerated Hercules</b></span></font> <span style="color: #808080">(Groups 3 and 4)</span>: Statues in this category tend to have features that are greatly exaggerated. The body of Hercules is much wider and stouter than in the naturalistic type and the musculature of the figure in particular borders on unnatural. The facial expression often conveys a sense of sternness instead of weariness. There seems to be a strong Roman influence on this style but it should be noted that a Exaggerated Hercules style sculpture was discovered in the Antikythera shipwreck dated ca. 80 – 65 BC so there was clearly some Hellenistic influence as well. Some examples;</p><ul> <li>The Antikythera Hercules, 1st century BC (Group 3)</li> <li>The Farnese Hercules. Early 3rd century AD (Group 3)</li> <li>The statue of Hercules with the head of Commodus. Late 2nd century AD (Group 4)</li> </ul><p>[ATTACH=full]980832[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3"><i>Figure 2: Roman / late Hellenistic influenced copies that show exaggerated features. Right: Statue of weary Hercules with the head of Commodus located at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy. Left: The Farnese Hercules on display at the Naples Archaeological museum (Author's photo).</i></font></p><p><br /></p></blockquote><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b>Influence on Coins</b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>The above examples clearly show that in the second century both the naturalistic and exaggerated styles of the Weary Herakles were popular. This was probably the case well into the third century as well. I suspect that the die-cutters at the Roman mint(s) of this period were directly influenced by one of the two styles and that the influence can be readily identified in most cases.</p><p><br /></p><p>For instance my Gordian III example seems to reference the naturalistic style while the Maximinus Daia resembles the exaggerated style usually associated with the Farnese Hercules sculpture.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]980833[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>One possibility for why this could be so is that the die-cutters may have been given a copy of the statue in miniature (of which several are still extant) that conformed to one of the styles and so were more influenced by that style. Another possibility is that the master die-cutters may have had prior knowledge of the artistic trends related to the archetype and consciously chose to emulate one or the other.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am not aware that we have any information on the life of any Roman die-cutters but it would not surprise me if many of them (even in the west) were Greeks trained in Hellenic artistic traditions in much the same way that many of the sculptors obviously were. In my research of the statue it seems to me that the naturalistic type of sculpture was more common in the east (i.e. Greek part of the empire) so it may be that die-cutters from that part of the empire would tend toward this style as well.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b>References</b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>[1] Vermeule, C., <i>American Journal of Archaeology;</i> Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), pp. 323-332</p><p><br /></p><p>[2] Pausanias, Description of Greece; Online <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><span style="color: #404040"><b>Show Your Weary Herakles / Hercules Coins</b></span></font></p><p><br /></p><p>Above are just two coins from my collection that show this statue. As we now know the statue referenced was hundreds of years old by this time. When was the first time this statue was shown on a coin? I believe there were some Hellenistic coins that show the statue. Anybody have one? How many different emperors can we identify that show this statue on their coins?</p><p><br /></p><p>In short, let’s see your examples!</p><p><font size="3">(or any GIII or Max. Daias for that matter!)</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3651278, member: 83845"]Last year one of my favorite acquisitions was my follis of Maximinus Daia showing what is referred to as the “Farnese Hercules” type. This design was based on a Greek statue made by one of the most renowned ancient artists of all time. I recently re-photographed another Roman coin in my collection showing the same theme but with some subtle differences that I think are important and interesting to note. Additionally, last year I had the good fortune to see many of the sculptures I discuss below in person. [ATTACH=full]981373[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Roman Empire Maximinus Daia (AD 308 - 313) AE Follis, Antioch mint, struck ca. AD 313 Dia.: 20.5 mm Wt.: 3.9 g Obv.: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG; Laureate bust right Rev.: HERCVLI VICTORI; Hercules standing right, leaning on lions skin and club Ref.: RIC VI 170b, Scarce[/SIZE] [I][SIZE=3]Ex FSR, lot 370 (Jul. 2018)[/SIZE][/I] [ATTACH=full]980834[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Roman Empire Gordian III (238-244) AR Antoninianus, Rome mint Dia.: 24.5 mm Wt.: 3.89g Obv: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG; Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: VIRTVTI AVGVSTI; The Farnese Hercules: statue of Hercules right, with apples of the Hesperides and lion skin, and leaning upon club. RIC 95.[/SIZE] [I][SIZE=3]Ex AMCC 1, lot 236 (Dec. 2018)[/SIZE][/I] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B]The Weary Herakles and its many Imitators[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] The Weary Herakles was created in about 320 BC by the master sculptor Lysippos of Sikyon. The original statue was produced late in the great artist’s career and was probably a life-size bronze. Pausanias makes a possible reference to this statue when he mentions a Hercules by Lysippos on display in the agora of Sikyon in the second century AD [2] (2.9.8). The statue showed a nude Herakles, resting on his club over which was draped the skin of the Nimean Lion. It captured the hero in the moment after he had finished holding up the cosmos in place of Atlas. By showing Herakles in such an informal and human light Lysippos was doing something that had never been done before. In Herakles’s right hand (held behind his back) the artist placed the apples of the Hesperides in order to show clearly that, while tired, the hero was nonetheless victorious in his labor. The work was one of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world and was also one of the most copied pieces of art in antiquity. More than 50 copies in various states of preservation are known to have survived into the present day [1]. The most famous of these is known as the Farnese Hercules. The Farnese Hercules was made sometime before AD 216 and housed in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. It was unearthed there in AD 1546 and spent the next several centuries in the collection of the Farnese family from which the sculpture gets its name. It was signed by the artist who created it, Glykon of Athens. [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B]Variations of the Iconic Archetype[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] Because the Weary Herakles archetype was popular for such a long period of time, several variations on the original were eventually developed. The Lysippos original did not survive antiquity but through careful study of the surviving examples many scholars believe they can determine which pieces were closest artistically to the original. Vermeule proposes that the existing statues fall into 4 groups [1]. [INDENT][B]Group 1[/B]: Statues closest to the original [B]Group 2[/B]: Statues that show an early Hellenistic influence [B]Group 3[/B]: Statues that show a late Hellenistic and early Roman influence [B]Group 4[/B]: Statues that are heavily influenced by the Roman style[/INDENT] The differentiators between some of the groups are probably more academic than most will find interesting but from what I can see there is a clear delineation between Groups 2 and 3 that would be clear to even a casual observer. Below is a breakdown of my observations on the groups. [INDENT][SIZE=5][COLOR=#404040][B]Naturalistic Herakles[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [COLOR=#808080](Groups 1 and 2)[/COLOR]: Statues in this category tend to be closer to the original Lysippos sculpture. The proportions are slender and elegant. The head is often smaller in proportion to the body. The figure is muscled but not unrealistically so. The expression of the face conveys a sense that the figure is fatigued and weary. Some examples of this style; [LIST] [*]The statue of Hercules discovered in the Gymnasium at Salamis. 2nd century AD (Group 1) [*]The statue of Hercules in the Ufizzi Gallery. 2nd century AD (Group 2) [/LIST] [ATTACH=full]980831[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3][I]Figure 1: Copies of the Weary Hercules type that more closely mirror the original. Left: Statue recovered from the ruins of the Gymnasium of Salamis, Cyprus (Photo by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/22310868469/']Carole Raddato[/URL]). Right: Statue on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy (Author's photo).[/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=5][COLOR=#404040][B]Exaggerated Hercules[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [COLOR=#808080](Groups 3 and 4)[/COLOR]: Statues in this category tend to have features that are greatly exaggerated. The body of Hercules is much wider and stouter than in the naturalistic type and the musculature of the figure in particular borders on unnatural. The facial expression often conveys a sense of sternness instead of weariness. There seems to be a strong Roman influence on this style but it should be noted that a Exaggerated Hercules style sculpture was discovered in the Antikythera shipwreck dated ca. 80 – 65 BC so there was clearly some Hellenistic influence as well. Some examples; [LIST] [*]The Antikythera Hercules, 1st century BC (Group 3) [*]The Farnese Hercules. Early 3rd century AD (Group 3) [*]The statue of Hercules with the head of Commodus. Late 2nd century AD (Group 4) [/LIST] [ATTACH=full]980832[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3][I]Figure 2: Roman / late Hellenistic influenced copies that show exaggerated features. Right: Statue of weary Hercules with the head of Commodus located at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy. Left: The Farnese Hercules on display at the Naples Archaeological museum (Author's photo).[/I][/SIZE] [/INDENT] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B]Influence on Coins[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] The above examples clearly show that in the second century both the naturalistic and exaggerated styles of the Weary Herakles were popular. This was probably the case well into the third century as well. I suspect that the die-cutters at the Roman mint(s) of this period were directly influenced by one of the two styles and that the influence can be readily identified in most cases. For instance my Gordian III example seems to reference the naturalistic style while the Maximinus Daia resembles the exaggerated style usually associated with the Farnese Hercules sculpture. [ATTACH=full]980833[/ATTACH] One possibility for why this could be so is that the die-cutters may have been given a copy of the statue in miniature (of which several are still extant) that conformed to one of the styles and so were more influenced by that style. Another possibility is that the master die-cutters may have had prior knowledge of the artistic trends related to the archetype and consciously chose to emulate one or the other. I am not aware that we have any information on the life of any Roman die-cutters but it would not surprise me if many of them (even in the west) were Greeks trained in Hellenic artistic traditions in much the same way that many of the sculptors obviously were. In my research of the statue it seems to me that the naturalistic type of sculpture was more common in the east (i.e. Greek part of the empire) so it may be that die-cutters from that part of the empire would tend toward this style as well. [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B]References[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [1] Vermeule, C., [I]American Journal of Archaeology;[/I] Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct., 1975), pp. 323-332 [2] Pausanias, Description of Greece; Online [URL]https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html[/URL] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#404040][B]Show Your Weary Herakles / Hercules Coins[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] Above are just two coins from my collection that show this statue. As we now know the statue referenced was hundreds of years old by this time. When was the first time this statue was shown on a coin? I believe there were some Hellenistic coins that show the statue. Anybody have one? How many different emperors can we identify that show this statue on their coins? In short, let’s see your examples! [SIZE=3](or any GIII or Max. Daias for that matter!)[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
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