Hercules as Patron of the Dresden Shooting Festival

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 933. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $1250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Sachsen-Albertinische Linie. Johann Georg II. Elector, 1656-1680. AR Taler Klippe (23.14 g, 12h). Commemorating the dedication of a new shooting gallery in Dresden. Dated 1678. M • D • C • - LXXVIII • / EINWEYH : - D : NEUEN • / SCHIES • - HAUSES in three lines, Hercules standing facing, clad in lion skin and resting on club, holding apples of the Hesperides; 1 • THAL • in lion mask below / IOH GEORG II D G DUX SAX IUL CLIV & MONT ELECT, crowned coat of arms within Order of the Garter; coats of arms in corners. Schnee 960; Merseburger 2409; Davenport 7636; KM 562. Near EF, a few field marks.

The golden apples of the Hesperides, which Eurystheus had ordered Hercules to fetch for him, were guarded by the immortal, unsleeping dragon Ladon. Hercules killed Ladon with arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra, and then, having been warned by Prometheus not to touch the apples himself, convinced Atlas to collect them for him, while he held up the Earth in his place. Hercules’ marksmanship (and cunning?) earned him a place as patron of the Dresden Shooting Festival.