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Scarab with Herakles Holding a Club and a Bow Set in a Swivel Ring
This scarab bears an image of the hero Herakles moving toward the left carved in intaglio. Herakles wears the skin of the Nemean lion pulled over his head. He holds a bow in his right hand and a club in his left, raised over his head and ready to strike. Gems were used as seals but also as jewelry and could reflect mythological figures as represented elsewhere in the arts, especially in sculpture.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Hoffmann collection [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Charles Newton-Robinson, London, by 1909, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Charles Newton-Robinson sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 22 June 1909, lot 14; Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris, 1909, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1909, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2009-2011 | Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; San Diego Museum Of Art, San Diego; Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA), New York. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 8/22/1960 | Examination | other |
Geographies
Italy, Sardinia (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H of gem: 9/16 x W: 1/2 in. (1.5 x 1.3 cm); W of mount: 7/8 x D: 7/8 in. (2.22 x 2.22 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1909
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
42.158