The Hope Herakles analysis

The artwork is not intact, because it is missing its arms and part of its nose. The statue has its head slightly facing to the left. There is a headband around the statue’s forehead, the headband falls down his shoulders. His eyes are exaggerated and his pupils are looking up. The figure’s muscularity is not too exaggerated, but just right. The figure stands above a base. Medium The Hope Herakles is made from marble. Marble is one of the most prominent mediums used by artists to create sculptures. Marble is formed when limestone is put under immense pressure and heat, through a process known as metamorphism. During the process, the calcite found in the limestone recrystallizes, to create interlocked crystals, which create a large rock (Leckie, What is Marble? 2016).

Common marble colors are pink, gray, black and yellow (Leckie, What is Marble? 2016). The varying colors and patterns found in marble is one of the main reasons artists prefer marble over other rocks (Leckie, What is Marble? 2016; Leckie, How Sculptors Shape Marble 2016). Additionally, artists’ preference for Marble stems from Marble’s readily available nature. Marble also presents numerous benefits. To begin with, it is very easy to carve, particularly because an artist does not require to use any exceptional tools. When artists need to dig out large pieces of the stone, they often make use of drills and dremmels. It is also worth noting, that these two tools can also be used to produce refined and smaller details on the marble sculpture.

The Hammer, also commonly referred to as the mallet, is the main tool used during the sculpting process. The artists uses the hammer to cut out certain pieces of the sculpture, so as to produce the desired effect. Other tools, such as picks, punches and points, are used together with the hammer, to produce certain shapes and details in the sculpture (Arnold 2018). Once the artwork is complete, the artist then proceeds to sand and polish it, until a desired look is achieved (Leckie, How Sculptors Shape Marble 2016). In ancient times, particularly when the Hope of Herakles was made, the sculptor would often go to the quarry and identify his preferred marble, and the size he wanted before it was dug out and transported for the sculpting process (Wootton, Russell and Rockwell 3-4).

Subject The subject of this sculpture is the demi-god Hercules. According to ancient myth, he was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman (Mark 2014). As a result, Hercules has superhuman strengths and abilities. These works often depicted emperors and heroes. They included a head, and had no torsos, such as the portraits of the Emperors, Gallien and Claudias (Mark 2018; Mark 2017). This is particularly evident in the great statues of gods and heroes. Unlike the Greek sculptures the Romans idealized, their own innovations were equipped with natural eyes, rather than painted pupil and iris (Cartwright 2013). Furthermore, the statues started to possess full bodies rather than partial shoulders and arms. Stone Carver, 2018. Web. 27th June, 2018. <http://www. stonecarver. Web. 27th June, 2018. <https://www.