Scene of Herakles

Description Herakles is shown cutting his club from an olive branch. Bracing the limb against his left thigh and straining backward, he breaks off the projecting spurs of wood. The subject is unusual, but not unique. Apart from the partial loss of its borders, this plaque is well preserved. Plaques like this one and Walters 71.11 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. Exposure to corroded metal has given this plaque a greenish coloration.

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