The Great Hercules

1589

Hendrik Goltzius

Associated Names
Hendrick Goltzius

Artist, Dutch, 1558 - 1617

This print shows a muscular man standing, his body facing us, with his legs in a wide stance and his head slightly turned to the left. He has pale skin, a short, curly beard, a thick, curled mustache, and long, curly hair partially obscured by the head and mane of a lion skin that he wears as a hood. He is holding a long, knotted club on his shoulder, and in his other hand he holds a curved, horn-like object. The man is nude except for the lion skin, which trails down his back like a cloak. The background features hilly terrain with rocks and small trees, and more people can be seen in the distance on the left and right, engaged in various activities, including a man wrestling a bull and three women sitting together. The sky has soft clouds. There are several lines of text below the print.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 56.5 x 40.9 cm (22 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1988.6.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein 1996, no. 156, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London); purchased by NGA, 1988.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2000

  • The Fantastic in Renaissance Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Colnaghi, London: 11/18/87-12/5/87, no.68.

1802

  • Bartsch 142.

1921

  • Hirschmann, Otto. Verzeichnis des graphischen Werks von Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) mit Benutzung der durch E.W. Moest hinterlassenen Notizen zusammengestellt. Leipzig: Verlag von Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1921. Reprint. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt &Bie

1977

  • Strauss 1977, 283.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-: no. 156, i/ii.

Inscriptions

lower left, in plate within frame: HGoltzius Inuent. et Sculpt. Ao.1589.; below image, in plate: Amphitryoniadae virtus terraque marique / Quem latet? et tanti saeva noverca mali? / Ille tot expositus mostris, Hydraeque, tricorpor / Geryon atque tibi, flammivomoque Caco. / Ille hic Antaeum, et superat te Acheloe bicornem; / Naiades at truncum fruge ferace beant. (Is there anyone who does not know of Hercules's courage on land and at sea, and the cruel stepmother who did him so much harm? He was exposed to many monsters, the Hydra and to you, Geryoneus with your three bodies, and to the firebreathing Cacus. Here he defeats Anteus and you, two-horned Achelous; but the Naiads enrich the branch with abundant fruits. [Latin translation from Leeflang, Huigen, and Ger Luijten. Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617): Drawings, Prints and Paintings. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2003, p. 106.]); in later hand, lower right in graphite: 117/40; various dealer notations in graphite on verso.

Watermarks

Crowned Coat of Arms with Dividers (Briquet 1164)

Wikidata ID

Q74877755

You may be interested in

Loading Results