Artwork
Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents
Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Joshua Reynolds. It is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a work of mythological painting, the composition centers on the hero as the main subject, illustrating his legendary strength and divine favor from infancy.
The painting depicts the mythological scene of the infant Heracles strangling two snakes sent to kill him in his cradle. As a work of mythological painting, the composition centers on the hero as the main subject, illustrating his legendary strength and divine favor from infancy. The narrative captures the moment the child overcomes the serpents, a classic iconographic motif symbolizing the triumph of virtue over evil forces.
The inclusion of a helmet alongside the child and the snakes further contextualizes the scene within the broader heroic tradition of Heracles.
Technique & Style
Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium consistent with Reynolds's large-scale mythological compositions of the period. According to the Wikidata record, the work measures 303 cm in height by 297 cm in width, indicating a nearly square, monumental format suited to its grand subject. The canvas support and oil paint medium place it within the traditional technique Reynolds employed for his history paintings. The painting is held in the Hermitage Museum collection.
Stylistically, the work depicts the mythological hero Heracles as an infant, shown alongside attributes including a helmet and snakes, rendered in the grand-manner tradition of late eighteenth-century British painting.
History & Provenance
Joshua Reynolds created the oil-on-canvas painting Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents in 1786 within the United Kingdom. The work measures 303 cm in height and 297 cm in width. It is currently held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
The painting depicts the mythological figure Heracles as an infant confronting snakes, executed in the artist's characteristic mythological genre.
Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents is an oil painting by Joshua Reynolds created in 1786. It is part of the Hermitage Museum's collection and has been exhibited there as part of its mythological painting displays. The work measures 303 cm by 297 cm and depicts the mythological scene of Heracles confronting serpents.
Overview
Created in 1794, the oil painting Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents is the work of Joshua Reynolds, a pre‑eminent English portraitist of the late eighteenth century. Executed within the Rococo idiom, the canvas presents the mythic child hero Heracles engaged in his legendary struggle with the serpents that threatened his infancy.
Context
In the late eighteenth century, English artists increasingly turned to classical mythology to convey moral virtues. Reynolds’s choice of the infant Heracles aligns with contemporary ideals of innate heroism and the triumph of virtue over chaos, themes that resonated with the Academy’s educational mission.
Artist & collection
Artist
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits.
