In Greek mythology, Hercules slew the centaur Nessus, who had abducted Hercules’s bride Deianira. Here, Hercules has put on a shirt dipped in Nessus’s blood, a deadly poison causing an intolerable burning sensation. Given the probable origin of this bronze as part of a firedog this was a suitable if macabre subject. For a portrait of Tiziano Aspetti see no. 80. Probably acquired by George IV