Hercules Killing Nessus, from The Labors of Hercules
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (10.8 x 7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Felix M. Warburg and his family, 1941
Accession Number
41.1.121
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intricate engraving *Hercules Killing Ness, from The Labors Hercules* (1550), German artist Heinrich Aldegrever captures a dramatic moment from classical mythology. Aldegrever, a of the Northern Renaissance "Little Masters" group, specialized in small-scale prints that rivaled the detail of larger paintings. This work depicts the hero Hercules slaying the centaur Ness, who attempted to abduct Hercules' wife Deianiraoften shown here as a nude figure, highlighting Renaissance fascination with the idealized human form and ancient tales of heroism and jealousy. Created as an engraving on a...
About the Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever · 1502–1561
Heinrich Aldegrever, born in 1502 in Paderborn, Westphalia, to parents Herman and Katherine Trippenmeker—a family of clog-makers known by the dialect name Trippenmecker—emerged as a multifaceted artist in the German Renaissance. His early training remains undocumented, though he likely apprenticed in a Soest goldsmith's workshop after relocating there around 1525, where he joined the painters' gui...