Tommaso della Porta the Younger, attributed to
A terracotta figure of Hercules attributed to Tommaso della Porta the Younger
Stained terracotta figure worked three-quarters in the round, the reverse smoothed down and hollowed out. This impressive fragmentary sculpture depicts the ancient hero striding confidently to the right, his muscular body only partially covered by the pelt of the Nemean lion. The sculpture was first published in 2014 (exhib. cat. Florence, op. cit.) and was then ascribed to the Florentine sculptor Domenico Pieratti (1600-1656). It has since been attributed to Tommaso della Porta the Younger, who was active in Rome from 1574 onwards, and given an earlier date in the last quarter of the Cinquecento. This attribution was suggested due to the work's similarity to a figure of the prophet Balaam on the facade of Santa Casa in Loreto; of which a comparable terracotta bozzetto has survived, purchased by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2010 (Retondi 1941 and Scholten/Baarsen 2015, op. cit.).
The raised right arm and the lower edge lost. Wear with minor losses. Height 94 cm.
Provenance
South German private collection.
Literature
Exhib. cat.: L´Immortalità di un mito. L´eredità di Michelangelo nelle arti e negli insegnamenti accademici a Firenze dal Cinquecento alla comtemporaneità (exhib. in Florence, Accademia delle Belle arti del Disegno), ed. by S. Bellesi u. F. Petrucci, Florence 2014, p. 225-226, cat. no. II.12 (attributed to Domenico Pieratti). - For the comparable sculpture by Balaam see P. Retondi: Sculture e bozzetti lauretani. Conributi alla scultura italiana del Cinquecento, Urbino 1941, p. 17-21. - 1100-1600 Rijksmuseum, ed. by F. Scholten & R. Baarsen, Amsterdam 2015, cat. no. 103.