BERTOLDO DI GIOVANNI
(b. ca. 1420, d. 1491, Poggio a Caiano)

Hercules with the Apple of the Hesperides

1470-75
Bronze, height 49 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Bertoldo di Giovanni formed the link in Florence between his master Donatello and his pupil Michelangelo. A friend of Lorenzo the Magnificent, whose gems he preserved, and well-known for his small-scale works, Bertoldo drew his inspiration from the antique. His Hercules with the Apple of the Hesperides has the tranquil pose and monumentality of a classical marble.