1544
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Labors of Hercules: Hercules Abducting Iole is a 1544 by Sebald Beham, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This print shows Hercules dragging a woman by the wrist while lions and a dead man hang nearby. The scene mixes myth and small details: a dead man’s body in the corner, Hercules’ bulging muscles, and a lion’s pelt tied around his neck. Beham packed 12 Hercules stories into tiny prints. Each labor looks bigger than life despite the small size. Check the way the lion’s fur curls—sharp and scratchy, like real fur. Look up Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550).
Beham was one of several German printmakers referred to today as the “Little Masters.” They established their artistic prowess by engraving remarkably small prints, appealing to collectors fascinated with miniature objects and curiosities. Here, Beham has packed 12 larger-than-life stories of the mighty Hercules into tiny prints. The series includes three of the 12 labors Hercules performed as penance for slaying his children in a fit of madness: Strangling the Nemean Lion , Killing the Lernean Hydra , and Dragging Cerberus from the Underworld . The other scenes depict tales from his life and…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings.
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