Skip to Main Content

The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Defeating the Centaurs

1542
(German, 1500–1550)
Germany
engraving
Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1923.120.1
Catalogue raisonné: Pauli 98
Location: not on view
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

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.
The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Defeating the Centaurs

The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Defeating the Centaurs

1542

Hans Sebald Beham

(German, 1500–1550)
Germany

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.