Ercole and Antaeus is a bronze of Antonio del Pollaiolo, executed around 1475 and kept in the Bargello Museum in Florence. The work, which incorporates a classic motif both in the theme and in the typo of object, was commissioned directly by Lorenzo il Magnifico.
According to Greek mythology, Hercules found himself having to fight in the Libyan desert against the giant Antaeus, son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and of Gaea, goddess of the earth. Antaeus used to challenge all passengers, killing them and collecting their skulls, aided by the invincible force that gave him the mother earth by a simple contact. To beat him, Hercules was forced to lift it, depriving it of its source of strength and reducing it to a simple man, which was then easy to crash into the air.
The bronze shows the moment when Hercules, recognizable by the mantle of the leontà, raises Antaeus, girdling him with life. The latter one tries desperately to break free from the deathly grip by pointing the left hand on the head of Hercules and pressing it with his right hand on his side. The artist rappresents the group with the extraordinary anatomical rendering of details such as the muscles and tendons in tension and uses sharp lines that almost strip the model and generate a sense of explosive strength, a new force in the panorama of Renaissance sculpture.
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