Style Other / Ref.10567

Ingé & Soyer, Bronze representing Hercules and Lichas after the model by Canova, bronze, circa 1834

This group depicting Hercules and Lichas was inspired by Canova's famous model of Hercules holding the body of Lichas in a dynamic, organic composition. Sculpted in marble, it was completed in 1815 and soon displayed in the palace of the Marquis of Torlonia. The first bronze editions of this group in France are closely linked to the presence of a preliminary model, probably in terracotta, in Paris.

This sculpted group recounts an episode from Greek mythology. Lichas, a companion of Heracles (Hercules), is asked by Dejanira to give Heracles a poisoned tunic that consumes him as soon as he puts it on. Feeling his own body being consumed, Heracles blames Lichas and throws him into the sea.

From 1831, Ingé and Soyer, working together, exhibited one of their castings of the group of Hercules and Lichas after Canova at the 1834 Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, alongside other sand castings which won them a silver medal. Their exhibition received rave reviews from the Central Jury, which, in its report published in 1836, stated:

"We owe Mr Ingé and Mr Soyer products that are no less remarkable for the perfection of sand casting than for the work of chasing. We should be grateful for the efforts they have made to simplify the work of the chiseller. Of particular note are Canova's Hercules group, the Magdalene by the same sculptor, a reduction of Michelangelo's Moses, and representations of animals that the chisel and file have barely touched. The importance of these products and their variety merit a silver medal".

Bibliography :

Baron Charles Dupin, Rapport du Jury Central sur les produits de l'industrie française exposés en 1834, Paris, 1836, t. 3, p. 140.

Geneviève Lacambre, De l'usage de la sculpture par les peintres: Gustave Moreau regarde Canova, La sculpture au XIXe siècle, Mélanges pour Anne Pingeot, 2008, p. 167.