Stefano Maderno

(Palestrina, 1576 - Roma, 1636)

in the way of

This interesting small bronze derives from a famous composition by Stefano Maderno which terracotta model is kept in the Franchetti Gallery at the Ca' d'Oro, Venice. There is another versionn in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, slightly different, and one in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.

Bronze copies were made after Venice model, now in various museums and private collections (some considered autograph and some only derivations from Maderno’s model). The bronze in the Castello Sforzesco Museum, Milan, is an example of the fusion similar to terracotta original as it has the lion's skin that descends between the legs of Hercules to the ground.

On the other hand, some bronze versions do not have the lion's fur, just as the one presented here.