Giuseppe Vasi
Two Views of the Farnese Hercules
1772
Physical Qualities
Etching and engraving, Sheet: 515 x 363 mm. (20 1/4 x 14 5/16 in.)
Plate: 493 x 315 mm. (19 7/16 x 12 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Garrett Collection
Object Number
1946.112.15287
In this depiction of the Farnese Hercules, Giuseppe Vasi challenges the medium of sculpture by flaunting the rich representational possibilities of printmaking. Whereas a viewer standing before the statue can take in only one perspective at a time, a viewer of Vasi’s print simultaneously encounters the front and back of the work. Indeed, the rear view was considered as interesting as the frontal view, and was frequently reproduced in print. This perspective also adds a narrative dimension: we see that Hercules holds the Apples of Immortality, which he had stolen from the Garden of the Hesperides.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "The Antique as Inspiration: Eighteenth-Century European Drawings and Prints," 27 June - 26 September 1993.
Elizabeth Rodini et al., BMA, "Printed Sculpture/Sculpted Prints," 14 November 2007 - 23 March 2008, no. 23, p. 8, ill. p. 5.
Elizabeth Rodini et al., BMA, "Printed Sculpture/Sculpted Prints," 14 November 2007 - 23 March 2008, no. 23, p. 8, ill. p. 5.
Inscribed: lower left in plate: "Cavalier Giuseppe Vasi diseg."; lower center in plate: "L'Ercole di Farnese disegnato in due vedute opposte..."; lower right in plate: "e incise l'Anno 1773"
Markings: CM: Claghorn
