Currently not on view
The Infant Hercules,
ca. 1785–89
Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723–1792; born Plympton, England; died London, England
2014-52
This is believed to be a preparatory sketch for a history painting commissioned by Catherine the Great, with the subject left to Reynolds’s discretion. He chose a precocious demonstration of the remarkable strength of Hercules: attacked in his crib by snakes sent by his father’s jealous wife, Hera, the son of Alcmene strangled the reptiles. The subject was intended to flatter the ruler of an increasingly powerful Russia. Reynolds displayed the finished multi-figure canvas at the Royal Academy in 1788 before sending it to Russia.
Information
Title
The Infant Hercules
Dates
ca. 1785–89
Maker
Medium
Oil on millboard
Dimensions
25.5 × 21 cm (10 1/16 × 8 1/4 in.)
frame: 35 × 30.5 cm (13 3/4 × 12 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Surdna Fund
Object Number
2014-52
Culture
Type
Subject
Sotheby's, London, November 10, 1993, lot 184. Sotheby's, London, Old Master & British Drawings, July 9, 2014, lot 184; sold to Princeton University Art Museum.
- David Mannings and Martin Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: a complete catalogue of his paintings, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000). , pl. 241; no. 834a
- Old master & British drawings: auction in London, 9 July 2014, sale L14040, 10.30 am, (London: Sotheby's, 2014).
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2014", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 74 (2015): p. 55-77., p. 73
