Sleeping Eros, Marble, Attributed to Tommaso Della Porta (c. 1546–1606)

This marble sculpture depicts a “Sleeping Eros with the attributes of Heracles,” a Hellenistic subject celebrated during Antiquity and the Renaissance. This composition inspired a number of copies and variations that can be found in the finest Italian princely collections from the 15th century onwards. Our sculpture is directly related to another sleeping Cupid, now preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Turin. Alternately attributed in the past to Michelangelo (1475-1654) or Tommaso della Porta (c. 1546-1606), a sculptor active in the circle of Guglielmo della Porta (1515-1577), the work, much admired by Vasari, is believed to have come from the collections of the House of Savoy. Like a mirror image, our marble and the one in Turin correspond almost perfectly. Based on the same model inspired by antiquity, our twin sculptures were probably created by the same artist, influenced by Michelangelo's muscular and vigorous anatomy. The recent attribution of the Turin sculpture to Tommaso della Porta allows us to link our work to his name.