Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull
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Object Label
In pagan Egyptian tombs, the deceased was often identified with suitable figures in Greco-Roman mythology. This was particularly apparent in the relief decoration of arches designed to curve out and over the heads of visitors to the public part of the tomb. Like the fragmentary examples here, they might show the god of the Nile to recall an authoritative family man, or a nymph to symbolize a young woman. Some wall reliefs, such as the example here showing Hercules as a mature hero, probably served the same commemorative purpose.
Caption
Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E.. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Culture
Title
Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull
Date
ca. 300–500 C.E.
Period
Late Antique Period
Geography
Place found: El Behnasa (Oxyrhynchus), Egypt
Medium
Limestone
Classification
Dimensions
13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
61.128
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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