HERACLES Hand-Painted Silver Pendant on Onyx

This pendant features a hand-painted representation of the mythical hero Heracles, skillfully crafted by artist Tommaso Rossi on Onyx. Set in solid silver, it celebrates Heracles, the embodiment of strength and heroism, often depicted soaring with pristine white wings. The deep black of the Onyx serves as a perfect night-sky backdrop, highlighting the divine figure’s grace, while the silver setting adds a celestial shimmer.

Heracles was considered a divine hero in Greek mythology, born to Zeus and Alcmene and raised by Amphitryon. He was known for his incredible strength, courage, and intelligence, and was considered a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome, he was widely popular, and the Roman emperors Commodus and Maximian even identified themselves with him.

Despite his great strength, Heracles also possessed wit and cunning, using these qualities to succeed in challenges where brute strength alone was not enough. He was also known for his sexuality, having both male and female lovers. Heracles was often depicted with a lion skin and a club, and he was considered the patron and protector of gymnasia and palaestrae.

Tommaso Rossi is the talented young artist who creates these exquisite miniature portraits and mythical stories. Working on both marble and hard stone discs, he depicts historical and mythical figures from ancient Greece and Rome, using paints such as enamels, titanium acrylics and graphite. In his amazingly detailed technique, Tommaso employs either an echidna quill or a rose thorn instead of a brush to define the figures on these miniature masterpieces.
Born in Rome in 2000, Tommaso first attended art school on Via Ripetta and then, recognized for his superior talent, he entered the prestigious “Scuola dell’Arte della Medaglia”. This is an elite art school in Rome where only a small number of the finest young artists are carefully chosen for further training in the arts of engraving and plastic modeling.
For more than a century, exceptional artists have acquired additional skills through the use of ancient techniques, innovative methodologies, design and craftsmanship. Importance is also given to art history and conservation. Classical traditions are reimagined, merging Antiquity with present day culture.