3 - German School, mid-17th century, circle of Leonhard Kern (1588–1662)

German School, mid-17th century, circle of Leonhard Kern (1588–1662) Hercules Fighting Cacus Small sculpted group in boxwood or fruitwood H 18.5 cm; base 12.8 x 8.4 cm Restoration at the base; a crack in Cacus’s neck and missing fingers on his right hand; Hercules’s right arm is slightly loose Related works: -Leonhard Kern, Kneeling Young Man with Bound Fists, second quarter of the 17th century, fruitwood, H. 24.5 cm, Washington, National Gallery of Art, inv. no. 2022.181.74; -Leonhard Kern, Adam and Eve, c. 1645–1646, ivory group, H. 23 cm, Berlin, SMB-SMPK, inv. no. J713; -Attributed to Leonhard Kern, Hercules and Hippolyta, alabaster, H. 81.5 cm, Sammlung Würth, inv. no. 17818. Related literature: - Harald Siebenmorgen, Malcom Baker, Leonhard Kern, Neue Forschungsbeiträge, Exhibition catalog for the exhibition held from October 22, 1988, to January 15, 1989, Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum, Schwäbisch Hall, 1990; - Fritz Fischer, “Great Art in Small Format: Small Sculptures by Leonhard Kern,” in *Weltkunst*, 74, 2004, pp. 14–17; -Virginie Spenlé, Leonhard Kern, the German Giambologna, Munich, Kunstkammer Georg Laue, 2016; -C.S. Weber, Leonhard Kern and Europe: The Imperial Treasury in Vienna in Dialogue with the Würth Collection, Swirifdoff, 2021; -Konrad Donhuijsen, “Inventio and Nuditas in the Work of Leonhard Kern (1588–1662): A Sculptural Body of Work During the Thirty Years’ War,” arthistoricum.net, 2024 Among the favorite subjects of Renaissance sculptors, the Labors of Hercules offered an exceptionally rich iconographic and symbolic repertoire, perfectly resonating with contemporary artistic and political concerns. While allowing for the depiction of the male nude and the portrayal of a heroic figure, Hercules represents a symbol of virtue, physical strength, and justice. It is this symbolism that is embodied in one of the earliest and most famous depictions, *Hercules Slaying Cacus*, created in Florence in 1525 by Baccio Bandinelli in the Piazza della Signoria: this monumental statue celebrates the Medici family’s return to power. By crushing Cacus—who embodies popular rebellion, treason, and the defeated republican faction—the Medici Hercules affirms the authority of the new ducal regime, serving as a clear visual warning to citizens against any inclination toward revolt. This trend inspired later sculptors, such as Vincenzo de Rossi—who also created a version of Hercules and Cacus for the Hall of the Five Hundred—to embrace this theme in monumental scale, as well as in smaller formats, following the example of Giambologna. Artists of the Late Renaissance and the Baroque period also found in the depiction of scenes of men in combat an opportunity to represent a fantasized, virile anatomy, with a passion for exaggerating musculature, expressing brutal power, and studying bodily tensions. Artists drew not only on the Herculean cycle but also on other mythological sources, such as Samson fighting the Philistines (see Pierino da Vinci, c. 1551–52, marble, height 223 cm, Florence, Palazzo Vecchio). In fact, this Hercules defeating Cacus bears a resemblance to a small boxwood sculpture depicting Samson fighting a Philistine—which was sold at public auction in Berlin in 2013 and donated to Leonhard Kern’s circle— both in terms of stylistic details and the arrangement of the overall composition. The anatomy of the male figures—with their muscular, stocky builds, long feet, and faces marked by prominent brow ridges—is characteristic of this artist’s style and that of his workshop. One is also struck by the similarity to the head of the Kneeling Slave, held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, or the face with the thin mustache of Adam from the ivory group held at the Bode Museum in Berlin—both created by the German artist. Leonhard Kern ranks among the most important German Baroque sculptors of the 17th century. Born in 1588 in Forchtenberg to a well-established family of sculptors, he undertook a five-year journey to Italy around 1609. This stay had a lasting influence on his art, which was inspired by classical Italian Renaissance sculpture. Also affected by the violence and political events of his time, particularly the Thirty Years’ War, his body of work is marked by figures engaged in hand-to-hand combat, nudes animated by dynamic expressiveness, scenes of battle, abductions, cannibalism, the expulsion from Paradise, and apocalyptic visions (see L. Kern, The Vision of Ezekiel, alabaster altarpiece, dim. 71.5 × 83 cm, Berlin, SMB-SMPK, inv. no. 8482; L. Kern, *The Expulsion from Paradise*, ivory, height 31.5 cm, Hamburg, MKG, inv. no. 1990.360). His workshop