Ancient Roman statuary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: ERCOLE (Rogers Fund, 1913)

Speranza

Marble relief with Herakles carrying the Erymanthian Boar
Period: Augustan or Julio-Claudian
Date: 27 B.C.-A.D. 68
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: Overall: 69.5 x 48.6 x 8.3 cm
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1913
Accession Number: 1913-60
This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 162

Large marble reliefs of this type were set into walls as decoration.

Many figures were shown in an archaistic style, reinterpreting the stiff appearance of early Greek art in a highly sophisticated and decorative manner.

In this relief, ERCOLE carries the wild boar he was obliged to capture alive as one of the twelve labours imposed by Eurystheus, ruler of the Argolid.
References:

Richter, G.
1914. "Department of Classical Art Accessions 1913."
Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 9(3): pp. 59-60, fig. 1.

Richter, Gisela M.A. 1930.
Handbook of the Classical Collection.
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 305-6, fig. 215.

Picon, C. A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 411, pp. 356, 486.