Hercules Winning - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 12.465 E 016° 21.980
33U E 601511 N 5340293
This sculpture is located at the entrance to the Michaelertrakt of the Hofburg Palace.
Waymark Code: WMK2P1
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 02/03/2014
Views: 20
Unfortunately not much information could be found about this sculpture. It is learned from the German Wikipedia Page for this wing of the Hofburg Palace known as the Michaelertrakt (
visit link) that this is one of four Hercules works...each 25 ton blocks from Eggen castle in Lower Austria. No date or artist is mentioned.
This work depicts Hercules lifting off the ground a challenger that he grasps at the waist. Both figures are naked but a flowing cloth conveniently covers their private areas.
Wikipedia (
visit link) tells us this about Hercules:
"Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the mortal Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Greek hero's iconography and myths for their literature and art under the name Hercules. In later Western art and literature and in popular culture, Hercules is more commonly used than Heracles as the name of the hero. Hercules was a multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him. This article provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the later tradition."