Hercules and Antaeus
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Hercules and Antaeus” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
RoomMedieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery
Closed· opens at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
Tetrode was Flemish by birth but spent some time in the Florentine workshop of the famous sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. He based this dynamic composition on a well known bronze fountain group at the Villa Medici at Castello, just outside Florence.
Hercules' wrestles and kills the giant Antaeus who, when not touching the ground, loses his strength gained from his mother, the goddess Gaia (or earth). Here we can see Antaeus struggling to lever himself against Hercules' head and wrest himself free of his opponent's grip, while Hercules has his arms ruthlessly locked around Antaeus' waist, waiting for him to give up the struggle by holding him in the air.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- A.92:1 to 2-1956
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
![[Venus, Jupiter und Merkur; Venus, Jupiter and Mercury], Willem Danielsz van Tetrode, 1574](https://diglib.hab.de/varia/haum/weerdt-a-d-wb2-0001/max/000001.jpg)
