Cleveland Museum of Art

Hercules and the Hydra

Date

late 1500s-early 1600s

Medium

bronze

Culture

Northern Europe, late 16th-early 17th century

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Hercules slayed the Lernean Hydra as the second of the ancient hero’s twelve labors. When one of the nine snake-like heads was destroyed, two grew back. Hercules cauterized each stump, allowing him eventually to kill the monster. The object he holds may have been a club, sword, sickle, or torch. The sinuous, scaly Hydra and the defined musculature presented challenging opportunities for sculptors working in bronze. The raw, tumultuous energy and twisting form-associated with artists of the late 1500s-contrasts to Jacopo Sansovino’s earlier Virgin and Child (1951.316).

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