L'ERCOLE di Michelangelo

Speranza

The first LARGE statue that Michelangelo is recorded as making is a lost marble, "ERCOLE" (1493).

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"Ercole" was JUST OVER life size.

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It was made while Michelangelo was in the service of Piero de' Medici.

ERCOLE was an important symbol of Florence, signifying VIRTUE, FORTITUDE and even REASON.

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Since the late thirteenth century, the image of ERCOLE had appeared on

--- THE GREAT SEAL of FIRENZE ---

together with an admonitory inscription:

"The club of ERCOLE subdues the depravity of FIRENZE".

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