PARIGI, Alfonso the Younger
(b. 1606, Firenze, d. 1656, Firenze)

Hercules at Rest

c. 1650
Marble
Palazzo Pitti, Florence

Around 1650, Fernando II de' Medici commissioned Alfonso Parigi to build the two long, low wings of Palazzo Pitti, bringing the palace to its present size. The garden was adorned with statues, which were placed singly or in group.

The picture shows the niche of the courtyard with the statue of Hercules at Rest. It is a mid-2nd-century AD copy of the statue known as the "Farnese Hercules" by sculptor Lysippos in the latter part of the 4th century BC. Beneath the statue is placed the relief depicting a female mule, created by Bartolomeo Ammanati in the 1570s.