Hercules Capturing the Cretan Bull - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: Metro2
N 48° 12.475 E 016° 21.880
33U E 601387 N 5340310
This sculpture is one of four featuring Hercules at the Hofburg Palace.
Waymark Code: WMK3A7
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 02/06/2014
Views: 14
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 completing one of his labors- the capturing of the Cretan Bull. It is located in a courtyard at the Hofburg Palace.
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."