Scene of Herakles

Description Herakles here dispatches the Nemean Lion by strangling the beast. The hero also wields his club, rarely present among representations of this labor. Apart from the partial loss of its borders, this plaque is well preserved. Plaques like this one and Walters 71.12 usually belonged to a larger set with a thematic cycle and often served to decorate caskets. Lacking rivet holes, the Herakles plaques were probably set into a supportive frame rather than attached to one by pins.

Provenance Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [said to be from Alexandria, Egypt]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1911