Hercules and Antaeus
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Hercules and Antaeus” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
Clays come from decomposed rocks ground down by weathering. Skill is needed in preparing wet clay to give it strength and ease of modelling, also to remove excess water and air before it is fired in a kiln. Firing fuses the clay particles and causes other structural changes that affect the colour and lead to shrinkage of about 10%. Comparatively few works in unfired clay survive because they are fragile and easily damaged.
This group is unfired but has been coated. It has been damaged, but it is unusual for such a large unfired object to survive at all. Hercules is wrestling with the giant Antaeus, whose strength flowed from the earth. He holds Antaeus aloft and is squeezing him to death.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 7716-1863
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
