The Menil Collection The Menil Collection

While fragmentary, this statuette represents a human figure in motion with an animal skin draped over one arm. The active stance of the figure, including the upright arm and forward leg, suggests that he would have been holding a weapon and attacking. The animal skin may identify him as Herakles (Hercle in Etruscan), the hero drawn from Greek mythology and also popular in Etruscan art. The archaeological provenience (findspot) of this piece is unknown, but based on comparable objects, it may have been produced by the San Severino or the Castelvecchio Subequo Groups, or a transitional workshop between then, working in central and/or southern Italy.