Hercules Killing the Mares of Diomedes
Henry Fuseli Swiss, active in England, 1741-1825
1800/05
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front.
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About this work
In classical Greek mythology, Hercules is assigned twelve superhuman labors to complete. The eighth of these is to capture the man-eating horses of Diomedes, king of Thrace. In most accounts, Hercules subdues and steals the mares, killing Diomedes and feeding him to his own horses. Fuseli has chosen the less familiar narrative, in which Hercules kills the mares as well. The defeated Diomedes can be seen collapsing on the left. The hero’s young companion, Abderus, killed by the mares, lies on the right.
Hercules’s hypermuscularity is rendered with bold and rapid strokes of the pen assisted by sparely applied, volume-defining gray wash.
- Artist
- Henry Fuseli Swiss, active in England, 1741-1825
- Date
- 1800/05
- Medium
- Pen and black ink, with brush and black wash, over graphite, on cream laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper
- Origin
- England
- Collection
- Prints and Drawings
- Reference
- 1922.2152 · Art Institute of Chicago