Existing comment:
Hercules and Antaeus
During one of his twelve labors, the Greek hero Hercules was said to have vanquished the half-giant Antaeus. Being the son of Gaia (Earth), Antaeus remained invincible as long as he was in contact with the ground, so Hercules lifted him up and crushed him to death. The gruesome feat was a popular subject with Renaissance artists, who were fascinated by the dynamic struggle between two naked bodies, as famously displayed in a Roman statue now in Florence. Both Andrea Mantegna and the Florentine artist Antonio Pollaiuolo (c. 1431 – 1498) admired the ancient statue, and their versions of the subject, broadcast in print, were soon copied by bronzecasters and maiolica painters. |