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

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

Annibale Carracci, 1595/97

Download1686 × 1094 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Annibale Carracci (Italian, 1560–1609)
Medium: Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on blue laid paper
Size: 25.9 × 39.5 cm (10 1/4 × 15 9/16 in.)
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

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.

Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0.

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