Art Institute of Chicago

Study of Hercules Resting, with Separate Studies of His Head and Foot (recto); Rectangular grid design (verso)

Annibale CarracciLinkedCulture matchlcp-e4b99322d242

Date: 1595/97
Medium: Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on blue laid paper
Culture: Italy
Department: Prints and Drawings
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 202162

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

This is a highly finished study for a fresco mural of the same subject in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Hercules, the hero of Greek myth, is identified by his club, a lion’s hide, and the apple in his right hand. Though lifelike, the figure was not drawn from a live model but rather from statues available to the artist in Rome, especially an ancient Roman sculpture of a reclining river god. The blue paper creates a mid tone between the black and white chalks, granting Hercules a greater degree of volume and naturalism and dramatically enhancing Annibale Carracci’s fluid, masterful line.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Gift of Richard and Mary L. Gray
Provenance: Emile Wauters, Paris [stamp (Lugt 911) recto, lower left, in black]; sold, Frederick Muller and Cie, Amsterdam, June 15, 1926, possibly part of lot 246 (as Pierre Puget). Private collection, Birmingham, England; by descent; sold, Sotheby's, London, Dec. 1, 1966, lot 84 (as Pierre Puget). Colnaghi, London; sold, Sotheby's, London, Oct. 10, 1974, lot 295 (attributed to Pierre Puget). Mathias Polakovits, Paris [stamp (not in Lugt) recto, lower right, in black]; by descent; sold, Sotheby's, New York, Jan. 28, 1998, lot 18 (as Annibale Carracci). Thomas Williams Fine Art, London, 1999; sold to Richard and Mary L. Gray, Chicago, July 6, 1999; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2019.