Description
A painter at the court of Lorraine, Gabriel Salmon is best known today for his woodcuts of the mythological labors of Hercules. Salmon emphasized the violent action of this rarely depicted scene with the sweeping lines around the figure of the demigod. The woman reaches toward Hercules’ crotch, while one of the satyrs fondles her breast and the other raises his shield against Hercules’ swinging club. The satyrs’ impending doom is foreshadowed by the already-vanquished figure on the ground.
Accession Number
20487
Medium
Woodcut on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 19.8 × 14.7 cm (7 13/16 × 5 13/16 in.); Sheet: 25.3 × 17.3 cm (10 × 6 13/16 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Credit Line
Potter Palmer Collection Fund
Related Artworks
Hercules and the Giants, from Scenes from the Life of Hercules
Gabriel Salmon
The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Subduing the Erymanthian Boar
Gabriel Salmon
Hercules Killing the Lernean Hydra, from Scenes from the Life of Hercules
Gabriel Salmon
Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion, from the Labors of Hercules
Gabriel Salmon