Gabriel Salmon
French, active 1504-1542
Hercules, Two Satyrs, and a Woman, plate two from The Labors of Hercules
INV-2048
Gabriel Salmon
French, active 1504-1542c. 1528
Hercules, Two Satyrs, and a Woman, plate two from The Labors of Hercules
Gabriel Salmon French, active 1504-1542 →woodcutprint
Date
c. 1528
Medium
Woodcut on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 19.8 × 14.7 cm (7 13/16 × 5 13/16 in.); Sheet: 25.3 × 17.3 cm (10 × 6 13/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Potter Palmer Collection Fund
A painter at the court of Lorraine, Gabriel Salmon is best known today for his woodcuts of the mythological labors of Hercules. Salmon emphasized the violent action of this rarely depicted scene with the sweeping lines around the figure of the demigod. The woman reaches toward Hercules’ crotch, while one of the satyrs fondles her breast and the other raises his shield against Hercules’ swinging club. The satyrs’ impending doom is foreshadowed by the already-vanquished figure on the ground.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
The Labors of Hercules: Hercules on the Pyre
Gabriel Salmon French, active 1504-1542
Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion, from the Labors of Hercules
Gabriel Salmon French, active 1504-1542
The Labors of Hercules: Bringing Cerberus from the Lower World
Gabriel Salmon French, active 1504-1542
The Labors of Hercules: Hercules and Antaeus
Gabriel Salmon French, active 1504-1542