This bronze cast Applique in the shape of the Bust of Herakles is slightly hollow in the lower part. Given its semicircular outline, it is thought to have been part of a bed decoration (fulcrum).
Modeled from a small terracotta plaque, this figurine belongs to a large group of statuettes known as “pappadès”, because of their polos (a high cylindrical hat) that makes them look like Orthodox priests.
This face certainly represents a male figure; it shows some of the distinctive features of the Greek-Roman images known as “grotesque”, such as the big aquiline and pointed nose, the strongly marked, frowning eyebrows and the wrinkled forehead.