On view
European Art
The Infant Hercules,
ca. 1785–89
Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom
2014-52
Celebrated for his society portraits, Reynolds also aspired to be recognized as a history painter. This is an oil sketch for a large work that was commissioned by the Russian Empress Catherine II, who left the subject to Reynolds’s discretion. He chose the legend of the Greek god Hercules’s precocious strength: When attacked by venomous snakes sent by his father Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera, Hercules strangled them. Reynolds displayed the finished canvas at the Royal Academy in London in 1788 before sending it to the Imperial Court. He intended the subject to allude to the valor of the young Russian Empire.
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). , Vol. 1: p. 541, no. 2096; Vol. 2: p. 602, fig. 1647.
- 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. 66
