The Farnesian Hercules (1592): Art, History and Details

The Farnesian Hercules (1592) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617).

The work and its context

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

Hendrick Goltzius was one of many late Renaissance artists who felt compelled to travel to Italy as part of his artistic training. He went with one purpose—to study antique sculpture. Goltzius made drawings on-site and then made engravings after his designs once he returned to Haarlem in 1591. He portrayed the Farnese Hercules from a low viewpoint to capture the awesome experience of first encountering the famous monument. Goltzius showed the sculpture from behind and in shadow, emphasizing its glowing highlights. The print includes two observers, who were assumed by contemporary Dutch commentators to be a self-portrait of Goltzius with his stepson, Jacob Matham, who was also an engraver.

Object facts

• Title: The Farnesian Hercules
• Date: 1592
• Creator attribution: Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)
• Culture: Netherlands, 16th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Platemark: 40.4 x 29.4 cm (15 7/8 x 11 9/16 in.); Sheet: 42.5 x 30.2 cm (16 3/4 x 11 7/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2022.137

A detail from the museum

The 3rd-century Farnese Hercules was unearthed in 1546 in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and was on display in the courtyard of the Farnese Palace by the time Hendrick Goltzius visited the city.

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Goltzius, Hendrik, and Walter L. Strauss. Hendrik Goltzius, 1558-1617: The Complete Engravings and Woodcuts. New York: Abaris Books, 1977.

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.