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The Labors of Hercules: Hercules and the Columns of Gades

1545

Hans Sebald Beham

(German, 1500–1550)
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Culture
Germany
Medium
engraving
Credit Line
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1923.120.8
Catalogue raisonné
Pauli 101
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Beham was one of several German printmakers referred to today as the “Little Masters.” They established their artistic prowess by engraving remarkably small prints, appealing to collectors fascinated with miniature objects and curiosities. Here, Beham has packed 12 larger-than-life stories of the mighty Hercules into tiny prints. The series includes three of the 12 labors Hercules performed as penance for slaying his children in a fit of madness: Strangling the Nemean Lion, Killing the Lernean Hydra, and Dragging Cerberus from the Underworld. The other scenes depict tales from his life and the events preceding his death. The son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena, Hercules was both man and god. His saga of moral and physical trials made him one of the most popular classical heroes in Renaissance art.
A horizontally oriented print in black ink on beige paper depicts Hercules, a muscular man, carrying two columns. Hercules steps to our right, back to us, with one column braced against his right shoulder and the other under his left arm. He walks through a city, domed buildings and columned arches extending across the background. Hatches and stippling shade the scene. Written across the upper center is "Gaditanas Columnas Statuit Hercules."

The Labors of Hercules: Hercules and the Columns of Gades

1545

Hans Sebald Beham

(German, 1500–1550)
Germany

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