The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Hercules at the Crossroad

Hercules at the Crossroad

c. 1498
(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, late 15th-early 16th century
engraving
Image: 32.4 x 22.2 cm (12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.); Sheet: 32.4 x 22.2 cm (12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.170
Catalogue raisonné: Meder 63 ii/ii
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The rooster on the helmet of Hercules in this image may symbolize the hero's valor.

Description

In his journal, Albrecht Dürer referred to this enigmatic engraving as “the Hercules,” but the image is not a typical representation of the mythological hero’s 12 labors. The subject derives from a Greek parable, where Hercules decides between a life of pleasure or one of virtue. The moral dispute plays out here as a battle between two personifications, Virtue, wielding a club, and Pleasure, lying with a satyr. Hercules’s crossroad is a copse of trees between two paths: the ascent to civilization at left (pleasure?), or the winding river to the wilderness at right (virtue?).
  • Richard Fisher (1809-1890), Midhurst (Lugt 2204)
  • Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-October 29, 2023).
    Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017).
    Dürer’s Women: Images of Devotion and Desire. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 28, 2014).
    Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987).
    Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981).
    Albrecht Dürer - 500th Anniversary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 19-March 28, 1971).
    Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).
    Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=Hercules at the Crossroad|url=false|author=Albrecht Dürer|year=c. 1498|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.170