Artwork Page for The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Receiving the Garment Steeped in Nessus' Blood

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The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Receiving the Garment Steeped in Nessus' Blood

1542

Hans Sebald Beham

(German, 1500–1550)
Culture
Germany
Medium
engraving
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams Collection 1950.459
Catalogue raisonné
Pauli 108
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Perceiving the princess Iole as a rival, Hercules’s wife Deianeira soaks a shirt in the blood of the centaur Nessus and sends it to her husband. Deianeira believes the blood is a love potion that will secure Hercules’s undying affection, but it is actually poisonous. Here, a servant named Lichas delivers the toxic shirt. 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.

The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Receiving the Garment Steeped in Nessus' Blood

1542

Hans Sebald Beham

(German, 1500–1550)
Germany

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