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Hercules Seated, study for Hercules and Omphale

A work made of red, black, and white chalk, with stumping, on light brown laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of red, black, and white chalk, with stumping, on light brown laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper.

Date:

1724

Artist:

François Lemoyne
French, 1688-1737

About this artwork

Carefully distributed across a tan sheet of paper, these studies of a male nude for the figure of Hercules were made in preparation for François Lemoyne’s masterpiece, Hercules and Omphale, painted in Rome in 1724. In the myth illustrated by the work, the Classical hero is reluctantly forced by Omphale to submit to spinning wool like a woman. Interweaving the red, black, and white chalks made famous by Antoine Watteau in the prior decade, this drawing heralds the grace and beauty of the French Rococo while reflecting the powerful experience of Michelangelo’s Sistine Ignudi.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

François Le Moyne

Title

Hercules Seated, study for Hercules and Omphale

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1724

Medium

Red, black, and white chalk, with stumping, on light brown laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper

Inscriptions

Inscribed verso, upper left, in graphite: "2"; upper right, in graphite: "4/6"

Dimensions

40.2 × 32 cm (15 7/8 × 12 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Reference Number

2013.969

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/151446/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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