Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne (1529 – 13 August 1608), was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.

 

Johann Friedrich von Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright and is considered by many in Germany to be the most important classical playright in Europe.

The quote “Show no mercy and expect no mercy, when honour calls” is an abbreviation of the translated text found in Schiller’s book The Maid of Orleans. The full quote reading:

Men show no mercy, and they wish for none,
When they at honor's call maintain the fight,
Or for their idols or their gods contend.

ABOUT HERCULES BEATING NESSUS

Hercules beating Nessus is a sculpture situated at the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence's Piazza della Signoria that depicts Hercules killing his foe, a Centaur named Nessus. In the myth, Nessus abducts Hercules’ wife Deianira with the intention of raping her after deceiving Hercules. Hercules came to his wife’s rescue not by beating Nessus as depicted in the sculpture, but by shooting him with a poison tipped arrow. The dying Nessus, while still out of hearing distance of Hercules, feigned remorse for his actions and persuaded Deianira to keep a portion of his blood to use as a love potion on Hercules if she ever felt that she was losing him to another woman. One day Deianira thought that another woman was coming between her and her husband so she washed one of Hercules' tunics in Nessus' blood. Nessus had lied to Deianira though, and the blood contained the same powerful poison Hercules had used on his arrow and thus was deadly. Upon wearing the tunic, the poison corroded Hercules’ skin which tore away from his body when he tried to remove the garment. Deianira, upon learning what had happened, hanged herself. The pain was too much for Hercules to bear and on his instruction he was burned alive on his funeral pyre, ascending to Olympus, where he was granted immortality and lived among the gods.

Text used under license from Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_von_Schiller .
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