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Hercules and the Hydra; wielding a torch he attacks the winged, multi-headed Hydra in rocky landscape, a hawk attacks a heron in the sky

After Antonio Pollaiuolo Italian
ca. 1500–1520
Not on view
The son of the God Jupiter and the mortal Alcmene, Hercules (Herakles in Greek) possessed a superhuman strength that allowed him to defeat tyrants and destroy monsters. As the legendary founder of Florence, he appeared on the city seal already in the thirteenth century. In 1460, Pollaiuolo painted three canvases depicting the labors of Hercules for the great hall of the Medici palace in Florence, the first large-scale mythological decorations of the Renaissance. Robetta's engraving seems to record one of these lost works, in which Hercules battles the Hydra with a torch. By cauterizing the Hydra's wounds with fire, the hero was able to prevent two new heads from sprouting each time one was cut off. Robetta also made an engraving after Pollaiulo's 'Hercules and Antaeus', the pendant painting to 'Hercules and the Hydra'.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hercules and the Hydra; wielding a torch he attacks the winged, multi-headed Hydra in rocky landscape, a hawk attacks a heron in the sky
  • Artist: Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta) (Italian, Florence 1462–after 1535 Florence)
  • Artist: After Antonio Pollaiuolo (Italian, Florence ca. 1432–1498 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1500–1520
  • Medium: Engraving
  • Dimensions: Sheet (Trimmed): 9 5/16 × 3 3/8 in. (23.7 × 8.5 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1927
  • Object Number: 27.20.2
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The Adoration of the Magi, after Filippino Lippi, Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta) Italian, Engraving
The Adoration of the Magi, after Filippino Lippi
Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta)
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The Adoration of the Magi, after Filippino Lippi
Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta)
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The Baptism of Christ who stands in a river in the center, John the Baptist at right holding dish above Christ's head and a cross in his other hand, two bathers at left, two angels at right, God the Father above in the clouds surrounded by four angels; buildings and hills in the background
Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta)
ca. 1462–1535
Naked female seated on a rock with child on her lap and another at left standing and grasping her breast, a child seated in the foreground holding wheat and a bird and other child at right holding a dog by the leash; dead tree with tablet hanging from it (text scored through) in the background
Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta)
ca. 1500–1520
Allegory of Envy(?); partially draped naked old woman at center flanked by two pairs, also naked, a child on the ground at lower left, road leading to town in the background
Cristofano di Michele Martini (Il Robetta)
ca. 1500–1520

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