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Hercules and Omphale, Old Master Painting, Mannerism, Baroque, Mythology, Prague

circa 1640

About the Item

Hercules and Omphale Oil on panel, 52 x 41 cm According to legend, Hercules had to make atonement and became a slave to the Lydian queen Omphale. When she found out who her slave was, she married him. Falling for his mistress and made effeminate by the luxury of court life, the former hero allowed himself to become the laughing stock of the court. He dressed in women's clothes, spun wool and did other women's work, whereas Omphale wore his lion's skin and carried a wooden club. When the time of punishment was over, the hero realised his delusion and left Omphale. So far, the painting could not be clearly assigned to an artist. Nevertheless, it impresses with its fluid and convincing painting, whose colourfulness and conception are reminiscent of the Prague School around Bartholomäus Spranger. This work follows an engraving and an etching made by Michel Dorigny in 1643 after a design by Simon Vouet. It shows the same scene but the print differs in minor details from the present painting (see e.g. the head of the lion) and the treatment of the faces seems to be painted more detailed and refined. So far there is no painting known by Vouet with this subject but he certainly made the design for the print. The style of the present painting reminds one more of the Prague School and similar compositions by Bartholomäus Spranger. (e.g. "Hercules and Omphale" at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna and also engravings with this subject.) Certain details of the composition can already be found in these early works and perhaps the painter of the present painting was influenced by both: the "Prague School" painting technique and the engraving by Vouet and Spranger. As Simon Vouet was a very sucessful painter and also "peintre du roi" he had many pupils and a big workshop. Perhaps the creator of the present painting can be found in the studio of the artist. The print by Dorigny gives us a terminus ante quen, a date where we can assume the Vouet made his design in this period. There is a contemporary copy in the Slovak National Gallery, which, however, differs greatly from the copperplate engraving and the present composition.
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1640
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 20.48 in (52 cm)Width: 16.15 in (41 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Greven, DE
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU155028027142

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