Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain02cham).pdf/260

 Apelles, Artemon, Nearchus, Panœnus, Parrhasius, Zeuxis.

HERCULES AND ACHELOUS, Domenichino, Louvre; canvas, H. 4 ft. × 5 ft. Hercules overcomes the river-god Achelous transformed into a bull, while his father-in-law, Œneus, king of Calydon, with one of his followers, are spectators of the combat; meanwhile, two shepherds watch their flocks on the banks of the river. Belonged to Cardinal Ludovisi, nephew of Gregory XIV.; bought from him by Louis XIV. Engraved by Duthenofer.—Villot, Cat. Louvre; Musée français, iii. Part 1; Filhol, ii. Pl. 94; Landon, Vies, Pl. 114.

By Guido Reni, Louvre; canvas, H. 8 ft. 7 in. × 6 ft. 6 in. Hercules, covered with the lion's skin, struggles with Achelous and forces him to bend his body to the ground. Painted for Duke of Mantua; bought by Charles I. of England; on his death sold to Jabach, who transferred it to Louis XIV. Engraved by G. Rousselet.—Landon, Musée, ii. Pl. 15; Villot, Cat. Louvre; Felsina Pittrice, ii. 23.

HERCULES, APOTHEOSIS OF, François Lemoyne, Toulouse Museum. Same subject by Charles Coypel, engraved by Surugue. Arrival of Hercules at Olympus, fresco by P. Cornelius, Glyptothek, Munich.

HERCULES AND CACUS, Domenichino, Louvre; canvas, H. 4 ft. × 5 ft. Hercules, leaning on his club, drags the body of Cacus out of his den; near him, a man points to Evander and Faunus, hastening to his aid; in the background, the cattle of Hercules graze on the banks of a stream; to the right, on a wooded hill, are ruined monuments. Engraved by Pillement.—Villot, Cat. Louvre; Musée français; iii. Part 1; Filhol, ii. Pl. 118; Landon, Vies, Pl. 113.

HERCULES, DEATH OF, Guido Reni, Louvre; canvas, H. 8 ft. 7 in. × 6 ft. 6 in. Hercules, unable to bear the anguish caused by the poisoned tunic of Nessus, stretches himself upon the funeral pyre which he has himself prepared, and expires with eyes and hands raised toward heaven. Same history as Hercules and Achelous of Guido. Engraved by G. Rousselet.—Landon, Musée, i. Pl. 41; Villot, Cat. Louvre.

Death of Hercules, Guido Reni, Louvre.

HERCULES WRESTLING WITH DEATH, Sir Frederick Leighton, Bernhard Samuelson, M.P., London; canvas, H. 5 ft. 6 in. × 8 ft. Subject from the "Alcestis" of Euripides. Admetus, the friend of Apollo, married Alcestis; when his time came for death, the Fates consented to prolong his life if another person would die in his stead; Alcestis offered herself, but when Death came to take his due, Hercules struggled with and overcame him. Alcestis, pale and statue-*like, lies on a bier beneath a canopy hung from trees near the sea-shore, which, with a vast plain under a lowering sky, is seen behind. In the foreground, at right, Hercules struggles with the King of Terrors; at left, a group of attendants; in front, the grave. Behind the bier Admetus, old and hoary, sustains a damsel who is overcome with terror. Royal Academy, 1871.—Athen. (1870), i. 203; Art Journal (1871), 153.