Head of Hercules

Head of Hercules

Giuseppe Girometti

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An agate cameo also signed by Girometti with Hercules’ head reversed is in the Vatican’s Museo Gregoriano Profano. In this sardonyx version four strata were deployed: the plummy brown of the Nemean lion’s mask is defined against the blush of Hercules’ cheek, which in turn sets off the paler flesh of the hero’s profile and the white of the beast’s fang and paw.


European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.