AFTER ANTONIO CANOVA (Italian, 1757-1822). Hercules and Lichas, 19th century bronze statue. Unsigned. The bronze sculpture is after Antonio Canova's "Hercules and Lichas" marble sculpture now housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome. It depicts the devastating moment from Greek mythology just before the hero's death. Hercules, driven mad by the agonizing pain from a tunic (the "Shirt of Nessus") poisoned with the centaur Nessus's blood, mistakenly blames his innocent young servant, Lichas, for delivering the deadly garment. In a final, furious, and tragic burst of strength, the hero seizes Lichas by the ankle and hurls him into the Euboic Sea, where the servant is transformed into a rock, forever immortalizing the hero's monumental rage and the servant's undeserved, pitiful fate. - 15 3/4 x 10 3/4 x 8 5/8 in. PROVENANCE:Estate of Baroness Marie-Christine Boulart-Deschamps, Washington, DC Estimate $1,000-1,500
