Hercules and the Cretan Bull
Attributedattributed to
Henry Fuseli
(Swiss, active in England, 1741 - 1825)
Formerformerly attributed to
William Blake
(British, 1757 - 1827)
ClassificationsDRAWINGS
Daten.d.
Mediumpen
Dimensions11 3/4 × 15 3/4 in. (29.8 × 40 cm.)
mat: 22 × 16 in. (55.9 × 40.6 cm.)
InscribedInscribed in lower right in ink: W. Blake 17[cut off] [over a very light pencil inscription, perhaps: W. S.]
Inscribed in lower left in pencil: Blake / 1779
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Label TextIn Hercules’ seventh labor (of twelve), he is tasked with subduing the bull from the sea that Poseidon had sent to King Minos of Crete.Fuseli closely based his Hercules on one of the two athletes (sometimes identified as the Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollux) from the ancient sculpture called the Horse Tamers on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, a work Fuseli greatly admired. He presents Hercules foreshortened as if seen from below, his recipe for creating a sense of “Grandeur” in art.
(Eccentric Visions, 2015)
Status
Not on viewObject number000.61
Terms
