Hercules Fighting the Rivergod Achelus
1550
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1550
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This print shows a muscular man wrestling a creature with a goat’s legs and antlers. The man is bare-chested, leaning on one knee, while the creature twists away, its face scrunched in pain. Behind them, a rocky landscape and a distant town sit under a flat sky. The artist carved deep lines to show muscle and movement, making the scene feel dramatic. The Latin text at the bottom hints at a story—Hercules fighting a river god. Next, check out the Renaissance movement to see how artists like this one mixed strength and myth.
