This striking head depicts a young man wearing the scalp of a lion as a helmet, the lion pelt being the signature attribute of the hero Hercules after he slayed the Nemean lion. A similar representation of a youthful, beardless Hercules in a lion-head cap was employed on coins issued by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great to allude to his descent from the mythical hero; it was later adopted in the coinage of the Hellenistic kings to represent Alexander himself.

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.

Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)