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Unknown artist

Hercules and Antaeus, 1470-1500

Description

Maker

  • Unknown
  • After Andrea Mantegna, 1431-1506, Italian, designer

Title

Hercules and Antaeus

Year

1470-1500

Medium

Engraving, trimmed along and within platemark

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • engraving

Supports

  • Medium weight cream laid paper

Dimensions

33.3 x 24.1 cm (13 1/8 x 9 1/2 inches) (plate)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Lettered CL, within image: "Divo Herculi Invicto"

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Prints

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

28.047

Projects & Publications

Publications

The Brilliant Line

Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Read Online

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line

September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010

Several engravers worked directly with Andrea Mantegna, the famous court artist to the Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga at Mantua, to make engravings after the master’s designs. The Premier Engraver, whose identity has long been disputed, was one of the finest and most consistent of these engravers. Here, the technique of bold outlines and parallel hatching creates dramatic shadows that recall antique relief sculpture, which was much admired in Mantegna’s milieu.

The demi-god Hercules holds in mid-air the giant Antaeus, whose strength came from contact with the earth, and whom Hercules thus killed by suspending him above it. A rustic trophy in the form of a tree trunk slung with the skin of the slain Nemean lion (one of Hercules’ labors) at right above a quiver of arrows refers to Hercules’ earlier victories, as does the Latin motto “Divo Herculi Invicto” (to the invincible and godlike Hercules). The oily residue visible on the upper right of this engraving indicates that it was once displayed in an album whose owner frequently thumbed through its pages.

Helen M. Danforth

June 21 - September 8, 1985

Prints and Drawings with a Classical Reference

December 15, 1965 - January 9, 1966

Engravings of the 15th and 16th Centuries

November 10, 1948 - February 4, 1949

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Hercules and Antaeus with the accession number of 28.047. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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