''Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion'' is a bronze sculpture located in the

Piazza Ognissanti Ognissanti (All Saints) may refer to one of the following Italian churches: * Ognissanti, Florence, Tuscany * Ognissanti, Mantua, Lombardy * Ognissanti, Trani, Apulia * Ognissanti, Venice, Veneto Also may refer into the following buildings and st ...

, overlooking the River Arno in Florence, Italy.

History and description

The first bronze statuettes on this subject were completed and exhibited by the Florentine sculptor Romano Romanelli in 1906–1910. Romanelli became a prominent sculptor for the Fascist administration of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

. In 1930, the Fascist authorities removed the statue of the Venetian-Italian patriot Daniele Manin from the center of this piazza, where it had been placed, and installed it in the suburbs of Arcetri. In its place, the Jewish-Italian patron

Angiolo Orvieto Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Ro ...

commissioned this sculpture, placed here in 1937 after display at the exhibition of the Quadriennale d'Arte Nazionale in Rome. A casting of this sculpture was also exhibited in Berlin in 1937, where it was prominently placed at the entrance of the exhibition alongside a photograph of Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III.Italian wikipedia: Mostra di arte italiana dal 1800 a oggi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion Monuments and memorials in Florence Bronze sculptures in Florence Outdoor sculptures in Florence Fascist architecture 1937 sculptures Sculptures of Heracles