The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Hercules Resting (recto); Footed Vessel with Handle (verso)

Hercules Resting (recto); Footed Vessel with Handle (verso)

1595–97
(Italian, c. 1560–1609)
Italy, 16th century
black chalk heightened with white, squared in black chalk on right, incised (edges of figure)
Sheet: 35.5 x 52.4 cm (14 x 20 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 36.6 x 53.3 cm (14 7/16 x 21 in.); Tertiary Support: 38.3 x 55 cm (15 1/16 x 21 5/8 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1997.52
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The squares drawn lightly over this composition suggest that it was used to transfer the design to another surface such as a full-scale cartoon.

Description

To atone for the crime of killing his family, the Greek hero Hercules was required to perform twelve labors. In this final study for a fresco of this subject commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese for the ceiling of his study in his family’s Roman palace, Hercules rests, surrounded by evidence of his toil: the head of the Erymanthian boar he captured; the three golden apples of the Hesperides; and the hide of the Nemean lion on which he sits. The hero’s pose and exaggerated musculature are a result of the artist’s intense study of ancient models, and emulate specific antique sculptures depicting river gods in the Farnese collection. Carracci also worked with full knowledge of Michelangelo’s frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508-10), and the pose of Hercules may have been inspired by the reclining figure of Adam in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam scene.
  • 1997
    Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Summer, 1997
    1997
    with Talabardon Gallery, Paris.
    1997-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Museum Acquires Major Chuck Close Painting, 19th-century Fire Screen, Rare Prints & Drawings,” June 9, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    De Grazia, Dianne, "Hercules at Rest", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 38 no. 01, January 1998 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6-7 archive.org
    Carracci, Annibale, and Daniele Benati. The Drawings of Annibale Carracci. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1999. Mentioned: cat. no. 34, pp. 136-138
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: P. 11, 46-47, 285; Reproduced: P. 47, cat. no. 13
    Gasparri, Carlo, David Franklin, Ingrid D. Rowland, and Sebastian Schütze. From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009. Mentioned: cat. no. 132, pp. 402-403
  • Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).
    Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 117): February 7, 2013 - June 3, 2013.
    From Raphael to the Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.,, Canada (organizer) (May 29-September 6, 2009).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    The Drawings of Annibale Carracci. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (September 26, 1999-January 9, 2000).
  • {{cite web|title=Hercules Resting (recto); Footed Vessel with Handle (verso)|url=false|author=Annibale Carracci|year=1595–97|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.52