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Your galleryStudy of Hercules Resting, with Separate Studies of His Head and Foot (recto); Rectangular grid design (verso)
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Look past the reclining hero to the separate studies of his head and foot at the right, and to the lion’s head under his elbow at the left.
This finished study is for Annibale’s fresco of Hercules resting in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, where he was at work by 1595. Hercules is known by his club, the lion skin and the apple in his hand, and although he looks alive, Annibale drew him from statues, above all an ancient reclining river god. The blue paper supplies a middle tone for the black and white chalk, so the body seems to turn in the light.
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on blue laid paper · 25.9 × 39.5 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Baroque
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Study of Hercules Resting, with Separate Studies of His Head and Foot (recto); Rectangular grid design (verso)
- Artist
- Annibale Carracci Italian, 1560–1609
- Date
- 1595/97
- Medium
- Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on blue laid paper
- Dimensions
- 25.9 × 39.5 cm (10 1/4 × 15 9/16 in.)
- Credit line
- Gift of Richard and Mary L. Gray
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.