Part 4 L’antiquité tardive

Bearded head of Hercules

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Bearded head of Hercules
Date de création
End of the 3rd century
Material
Saint-Béat marble (Haute-Garonne)
Dimensions
H. 29,5 x l. 23,5 x P. 22 (cm)
Inventory number
Ra 28 k

It is impossible to ascertain with any certainty to which relief depicting the Labours of Hercules this head may have belonged, although the beard does at least provide a clue as to its chronology: it could indeed relate to Hercules and the Queen of the Amazons, Hercules and the golden apples of the Hesperides or Hercules and Cerberus. As stated in the note on the relief of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, the absence or presence of a beard is an indication of passing time, showing the effects of age from young adulthood to maturity. The hero’s facial hair therefore confirms his psychological growth.

The very prominent supraorbital ridge, the tapered locks of hair divided by means of a groove made with a straight chisel, and the deep hollows made with a trepanning tool, to clearly separate the generous curls of the beard, are so many signs that refer to a number of other heads that were once part of the villa’s lavish decor during Late Antiquity. Hercules’s physiognomy is, in this case, very similar to that of the male deities depicted on shields, and Asclepius in particular.

P. Capus

Bibliography

  • Balty, Cazes 2008 J.-C. Balty, D. Cazes, Les portraits romains, 1 : La Tétrarchie, 1.5 (Sculptures antiques de Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane), Toulouse
    .
    p. 135 fig. 115
  • Du Mège 1835 A. Du Mège, Description du musée des Antiques de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .
    no 177
  • Du Mège 1828 A. Du Mège, Notice des monumens antiques et des objets de sculpture moderne conservés dans le musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .
    no 85
  • Espérandieu 1908 É. Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, 2. Aquitaine, Paris
    .
    no 899, p. 37, fig. 4
  • Joulin 1901 L. Joulin, Les établissements gallo-romains de la plaine de Martres-Tolosane, Paris
    .
    no 112 b
  • Rachou 1912 H. Rachou, Catalogue des collections de sculpture et d’épigraphie du musée de Toulouse, Toulouse
    .
    no 28 k
  • Roschach 1865 E. Roschach, Catalogue des antiquités et des objets d’art, Toulouse
    .
    no 28 i

To cite this notice

Capus P., "Bearded head of Hercules", in The sculptures of the roman villa of Chiragan, Toulouse, 2019, online <https://villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/en/ark:/87276/a_ra_28_k>.