Let's go back to the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome (here the first article about it), a museum that I always suggest to visit, in order to admire a clear example of neoclassical art, in which the exponent was Antonio Canova, the famous sculptor, who, between the end of XVIII century and the beginning of the XIX one, realized this work: the Hercules and Lichas. Do you see how, coming in Rome, there are not only the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums? For a local tour guide like me it is extremely important to tell how Rome is able to host not famous masterpieces like this one.

We are in a period in which art, after centuries of inventions, new ideas, extreme scenery, and new surprises, would like to return to the origins, to the classic that exploded, after centuries, in the course of the Renaissance. Many artists wanted to take as models the Greek and roman sculptures or paintings of the same era, in order to go back to those ideals of beauty, rigor, and order typical of classical art. And, as you can see, Canova was no less. He took inspiration, for his sculpture, directly from the Laocoon of the Vatican Museums and the Farnese Hercules in Naples, works that for centuries became the models of classical art ancient. Try to notice the extreme realism of the muscular body, toned and strong as Hercules, his bushy beard and his curly hair. The tension in the muscles, tendons, and effort are shown with an extreme naturalism. Another aspect is the emotion and the feelings coming out from the subjects. Do you see the Lichas' face, the young man who is almost launched into the air? Exudes pure terror...not to mention, then, of the extreme dynamism of the sculptural group. Starting from the outstretched Lichas' arms, and going on until his left leg, taken with force by the Hercules'arms, we can see that the whole work is ascribed in a circle, as maximum of perfection, the divine and the infinite. A circular motion that gives to the whole work a dynamism and power without equal.

In a certain sense we expect, in the face of this masterpiece, to see the poor Lichas's body touch with the hardness of the ground. Canova was a true master, because he concentrated in pure marble all the rage, the movement and the tragedy of the episode. Lica, in fact, was a herald of Hercules. He received from the wife of the hero, Deianira, a cloak soaked in the blood of Nessus, an evil centaur which fell in love with her. The beast promised that blood was a powerful love potion, but this was not true. In reality, the cloak he brought with him had a powerful poison, and when Hercules put it on, immediately began to feel ill. Therefore, believing that Lichas' was betraying him, Hercules with his mythological force hurled him off a cliff...