Wrestlers Weight with Hercules and the Nemean Lion - Essay Example

Wrestler’s Weight with Hercules and the Nemean Lion

This artwork is in the form of a stone sculpture have dimensions of 26 x 34.9 cm (10.25 x 13.75 in.) done on schist material. The sculpture depicts Hercules holding a lion’s skin and learning on a stick while looking back at an approaching Nemean lion. The wrestling scene is what connects this sculpture to the Greco-Roman period where a man used to fight with animals such as lions in a big arena and, if they triumphed over the lion, would then be crowned as a hero. Also, Greco-Roman art has a theme of depicting people fighting and the only difference with this sculpture is that Greco-Roman art focused mainly on men fighting not men with animals.

Some of the earliest schist or stone sculptures can be traced back to Indians. Others argue that they are the ones who started curving stones to produce art. Thus, this sculpture can be traced back to the Indians. Also, worshipping of idols was widespread among Indians as it is still today. Such a sculpture depicting Hercules as a hero is a form of idol worship in the eyes of any critics who can be considered an idol because people are praising him through an object.

Stair Riser with Marine Deities or Boatmen
This sculpture, according to Behrendt, is part of a set of 21 panels, which inflated the stairway of a stupa, most probably on the western part of the Swat valley. The treatment of the structure of these athletic men is fascinating in terms of both the schematization and naturalism of the musculature relating to the men of the Greco-Roman era. The oars that they have and the acanthus foliage that appear to nurture out of their bodies propose that they are marine deities like those of the Greco-Roman age. The sculpture is done on Serpentinite and its dimensions are H. 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.) and 43.2 cm (W. 17 in.).

In Indian art, holding a sword symbolized the eradication of vices, like the men in the sculpture look as if they are from a fight and they have triumphed over their vices. Also, Indians had a style of curving their sculptures near sites where war had taken place to symbolize their victory. For this sculpture, the western part of Swat valley was also a place of warfare, thus the deities who stood there were for symbolizing victory. Read More