Hercules at the Crossroad (c. 1498): Art, History and Details

Hercules at the Crossroad (c. 1498) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Albrecht Dürer traveled from Nuremberg, his hometown, to Italy in 1494–95. Evidence suggests that he stopped in Mantua to meet painter Andrea Mantegna, then about 64 years old. The nature of their exchange—if it occurred—is unknown, yet each artist’s engravings profoundly influenced the other. Mantegna’s work introduced Dürer to complex mythological subjects and stories featuring the nude body; Dürer later incorporated one of Mantegna’s nymphs from the print Battle of the Sea Gods into his print Hercules at the Crossroad, shown here.

Object facts

• Title: Hercules at the Crossroad
• Date: c. 1498
• Creator attribution: Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
• Culture: Germany, late 15th-early 16th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 32.4 x 22.2 cm (12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.); Sheet: 32.4 x 22.2 cm (12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1961.170

A detail from the museum

The rooster on the helmet of Hercules in this image may symbolize the hero's valor.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.