golden-brown patina beneath dark brown lacquer, upon later marble base.

Standard wear and surface abrasions. Several layers of thick brown varnish and lacquer over light golden brown patina. Some minor original casting cracks including one at the proper right ankle of Hercules. Some wear to later base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present bronze is known in seven other casts of varying degrees of quality and date, the finest of which is in the Quentin Collection, New York (op. cit., cat. no. 1). Here, the drama of the moment is underscored by the bold modelling of the musculature and exaggerated facial expression of Antaeus, as Hercules strains to lift him above the earth. The subject is an episode from the 11th Labor of Hercules in which he wrestles the Libyan giant who drew his strength from the Earth, his mother, Gaia, and was invincible only when a part of him touched the ground.

The composition derives from an antique marble group recorded in 1509 as being among the statues taken by Pope Julius II to the Vatican. However, it must have been discovered before 1474, as Mantegna used a variation of the motif in the vault of the Camera degli Sposi in Mantua. In 1518, Antico referred to the marble as the most beautiful work of antiquity that there ever was (see J. Hermann, 'Pier Jacopo Alari- Bonacolsi gennant Antico' in Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des Alterhöchsten Kaiserhauses, 1910, XXVIꦓII, 🐓pp. 201-288). Antico made a bronze reduction of the marble for Isabella d' Este, now preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

RELATED LITERATURE
European Bronzes from the Quentin Collection, Milan, 2004, no. 1, pp. 54-67