Belvedere Torso

The Belvedere Torso is a fragmentary marble statue of a nude male.  The figure is portrayed seated on an animal hide, and its precise identification remains open to debate. Though traditionally identified as a Heracles seated on the skin of the Nemean lion, recent studies have identified the skin as that of a panther, occasioning other identifications (possibilities include Hercules, Polyphemus and Marsyas, among others.) According to the Vatican Museum website "the most favoured hypothesis ide