Mercury Rescues the Disguised Io after Beheading Argus

Johann Michael Rottmayr began painting ambitious series like this one
in his native Salzburg, Austria, after returning from several years of artistic training in Venice. His new works featured mythological subjects, energetic compositions, and a saturated palette—the same qualities that inspired Flemish Baroque artists.

Here, the Roman god Mercury has beheaded the guardsman Argus, whose crimson blood pours out from his neck onto the ground below. Mortal Io, who has been transformed into a cow by her lover Jupiter, looks on placidly as Mercury rescues her from her imprisonment by Jupiter’s jealous wife, Juno.