Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion, Bronze sculpture in Piazza Ognissanti, Florence, Italy

Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion is a bronze sculpture in Piazza Ognissanti that depicts two mythological figures locked in fierce physical combat. The intertwined forms convey raw strength and dramatic movement between the human hero and the wild creature.

In 1930 the Fascist authorities removed Daniele Manin's statue from the centre of Piazza Ognissanti and moved it to Arcetri. The Jewish-Italian patron Angiolo Orvieto then commissioned Romano Romanelli's bronze, shown at the Quadriennale d'Arte Nazionale in Rome and installed here in 1937. A casting appeared at the entrance of the 1937 Berlin exhibition beside a photograph of Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III.

The subject is Heracles' first labour, killing the Nemean lion, a motif Romanelli had already modelled in small bronzes shown in 1906–1910. The piazza setting carries its own story: the monument replaced Daniele Manin's statue, moved to Arcetri in 1930, and was funded by the Jewish-Italian patron Angiolo Orvieto.

The statue stands in the center of Piazza Ognissanti, easy to find and accessible from multiple directions. The square sits near the Arno River and fits naturally into walking routes through the city.

A casting of the sculpture was shown in Berlin in 1937, placed at the entrance of the exhibition next to a photograph of Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III. The same work had been displayed at the Quadriennale d'Arte Nazionale in Rome before its installation in the piazza.