Hercules Slaying the Nemean Lion - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 11.090 E 016° 18.760
33U E 597568 N 5337676
This sculpture is located in the lobby of Schonbrunn Palace- where tours begin.
Waymark Code: WMK9Y7
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 03/06/2014
Views: 10
Hercules is a demi-god....the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal.
This is one of a pair of sculptures depicting Hercules in the lobby of the Schonbrunn Palace. The other depicts Hercules fighting the Dragon of the Hesperides
Here, Hercules wrestles with the lion which is below him and has its head twisted upwards with Hercules stretching its mouth.
A placard indicates that the sculptures were designed by Giovanni Giuliani and cast by Ubald Torri. They were made between 1714 and 1724. The placard also indicates that the hollow-cast sculptures served as hot air stoves and the hot air would come out of the mouth of the lion here and the dragon in the other work.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"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."