Lot 13 | Dutch School | Hercules Killing Cacus

DUTCH SCHOOL
16th / 17th C.

Title: Hercules Killing Cacus.
Technique: Oil on wood.
Mounting: Parquetted.
Measurement: 52 x 41cm.
Frame: Framed.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Belgium.

This painting depicts the hero and demigod of Greek mythology Hercules fighting with the giant Cacus, who stole part of the herd of oxen that Hercules had in turn kidnapped from the monster Geryon. Hercules, wearing a lion's skin, raises his club above his head with both hands to strike Cacus, who is lying beneath him on the floor of a cave; some of Geryon's cattle throng to the right.
The work is derived from a woodcut of 1588 made by Hendrik Goltzius and published by Willem Jansz. Blaeu. The prints of Hendrick Goltzius were fundamental vehicles of ideas and a reservoir of inspiration for many artists who copied them or were inspired by them in the realisation of paintings, sculptures and reliefs in various materials.
The author of this painting, active between the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century, also seems to have studied Goltzius' engravings closely. We do not know whether it was an isolated painting or an element of a cycle dedicated to the exploits of the famous demigod.