69 - Italian school, second half of the 18th century.

Italian school, second half of the 18th century. "Mythological scene". Oil on canvas. Measurements: 41 x 113 cm; 47,5 x 119 cm (frame). The corpulent personage who presides this composition seems to identify Hercules. Although he is not covered by the lion skin with which he often appears wrapped (a skin that he wore after killing the beast of Nemea), his bearded face, as well as the mace that he wields in his left hand and his vigorous physical condition are characteristic of the representations of the son of Zeus and Alcmene. The presence of fire leads us to think of the last of his works, his incursion into the underworld, where he will have to confront the Cancerberus. However, the iconography is ambiguous here, as it seems to speak more of a fire than of the mouth of the underworld. Three figures, dressed in tunics and cloaks fluttering in the wind, try to warn him of the danger of his mission. The architectural elements are a mixture of Egyptian and Greek references, set in a landscape through which a river meanders. Stylistically, the painting belongs to the transitional period between late Baroque and Neoclassicism.