Bernard Picart

Hercules' Combat with the Hydra

"Hercules' Combat with the Hydra" by Bernard Picart.

Hercules and the Twelve Labours: The lifelong foe of Hercules was the goddess, Hera. She set upon him the Fury of madness, Lyssa. Afflicted with her malady, Hercules tragically mistook his children for those of his enemy and murdered them. Hercules was forced to flee his country and lived the following twelve years in Argolis. As punishment for his crime he had to complete twelve arduous labours.

The second labour was that of the Lernaean Hydra. The hydra was a huge serpent with nine heads. It lived near Lerna, in the Peloponnese, ravaging surrounding crops. Its breath was so poisonous that whoever felt it immediately died. With the aid of Iolaus, Hercules forced the creature to emerge from the marshes by means of flaming arrows. He engaged the hydra in combat with his mighty club, but every time he struck off one of its heads, two grew immediately in its place. Iolaus then set a neighbouring forest on fire and, with the aid of burning brands, attacked the creature. Hercules then slew the hydra by cutting off all its heads. He soaked his arrows in its blood, making them poisonous.

This original engraving and etching was both designed and engraved by Bernard Picart and originates from the Temple of the Muses (Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel), dealing with Greek mythology. This impression of Hercules' Combat with the Hydra hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.

View other original engravings created by Bernard Picart for "The Temple of the Muses".

Bernard Picart & " The Temple of the Muses"
01.-	Achelous in the Shape of a Bull, is Vanquished by Hercules by Bernard Picart by Bernard Picart	Sold	27.-	Oeneus, King of Calydon, Having Neglected Diana in a Sacrifice, is Punished for his Impiety by Bernard Picart	Sold
02.-	Actaeon Turned into a Stag, and Devoured by his Dogs by Bernard Picart	Available	28.-	Orpheus Leading Eurydice out of Hell, Looks Back upon Her, and Loses Her Forever by Bernard Picart	Available
03.-	Alcyone and Ceyx Transformed into Halcyons by Bernard Picart	Available	29.-	Pan Pursues Syrinx: She is Metamorphosed into a Reed by Bernard Picart	Sold
04.-	Amphion Builds the Walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre by Bernard Picart	Sold	30.-	Pandora's Box by Bernard Picart	Sold
05.-	Arethusa Pursued by Alpheus, and Turned to a Fountain by Bernard Picart	Available	31.-	Penelope's Web by Bernard Picart	Available
06.-	Arion Preserved by a Dolphin by Bernard Picart	Sold	32.-	Perseus Cuts off Medusa's Head by Bernard Picart	Available
07.-	Atlas Supports the Heavens on his Shoulders by Bernard Picart	Sold	33.-	Perseus Delivers Andromeda by Bernard Picart	Available
08.-	Bellerophon Fights the Chimaera by Bernard Picart	Available	34.-	Phaeton Struck Down by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart	Available
09.-	Cassandra Foretelles the Trojans their Fate, and is not Hearkened To by Bernard Picart	Sold	35.-	Prometheus Tortured by a Vulture by Bernard Picart	Sold
10.-	Castor and Pollux, or the Twins by Bernard Picart	Available	36.-	Pygmalion is Enamored with a Statue he had Made: and Venus at his Prayer Transforms it into a Woman by Bernard Picart	Available
11.-	Chaos by Bernard Picart	Sold	37.-	Salmacis and Hermaphroditus United in one Body by Bernard Picart	Available
12.-	Clytia Changed into a Turnesole (Heliotrope) by Bernard Picart	Sold	38.-	Semele is Consumed by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart	Sold
13.-	Cygnus Transformed to a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into Poplars by Bernard Picart	Sold	39.-	Sisyphus's Stone by Bernard Picart	Sold
14.-	Daphne Pursued by Apollo, and Turned to a Laurel by Bernard Picart	Sold	40.-	Tantalus's Torment by Bernard Picart	Sold
15.-	Deucalion and Pyrrha Repeople the World by Throwing Stones Behind Them by Bernard Picart	Sold	41.-	The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades by Bernard Picart	Sold
16.-	Enceladus Buried under Mount Aetna (Etna) by Bernard Picart	Available	42.-	The Danaids Condemned to Fill Bored Vessels with Water by Bernard Picart	Available
17.-	Glaucus Changed into a Sea-God by Bernard Picart	Available	43.-	The Death of Hercules by Bernard Picart	Sold
18.-	Hell (Tartarus) by Bernard Picart	Available	44.-	The Deluge by Bernard Picart	Sold
19.-	Hercules's Combat with the Hydra by Bernard Picart	Available	45.-	The Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollux, the Guardians of Mariners by Bernard Picart	Sold
20.-	Ixion's Wheel by Bernard Picart	Available	46.-	The Fall of Icarus by Bernard Picart	Sold
21.-	Io Changed into a Cow: Mercury Cuts off Argus's Head by Bernard Picart	Available	47.-	The Giants Attempt to Scale Heaven by Piling Mountains upon One Another by Bernard Picart	Available
22.-	Leucothoe is Seduced by Apollo in the Shape of Eurynome by Bernard Picart	Available	48.-	The Golden Fleece Won by Jason by Bernard Picart	Sold
23.-	Lycaon Metamorphosed into a Wolf by Bernard Picart	Available	49.-	The Moon and Endymion by Bernard Picart	Sold
24.-	Meleager Presents the Boar's Head to Atalanta by Bernard Picart	Sold	50.-	The Palladium by Bernard Picart	Available
25.-	Memnon's Statue by Bernard Picart	Available	51.-	Tithonus, Aurora's Husband, Turned into a Grass-Hopper by Bernard Picart	Sold
26.-	Narcissus is Changed into a Flower by Bernard Picart	Sold	52.-	Ulysses and his Companions Avoid the Charms of the Sirens by Bernard Picart	Available

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Title:	Hercules' Combat with the Hydra
Artist:	Picart, Bernard (Paris, 1673 - Amsterdam, 1733)
Date:	1733 (1754 Edition)
Medium:	Original Etching and Engraving
Publisher:	Chatelain, Amsterdam and Leipzig
Note:	Bernard Picart: An exceptional French eighteenth century engraver, Bernard Picart received his artistic education from his father, Etienne (1632-1721), and from Le Brun and Jouvenet at the Royal Academy. To say that Bernard Picart's considerable talents developed rapidly would be an understatement: at the age of sixteen he gained honors at the Academy of Paris. He moved permanently to Amsterdam in 1710. At this time this city was a major center for both publishing and printmaking and for the following two decades Bernard Picart's fine work placed him as the successor to Romeyn de Hooghe.
	Bernard Picart excelled chiefly in the fields of portraiture, ornamental designs and mythological and religious subjects, both after the old masters and upon his own creation. In the former category he was commissioned for portraits of Philip, Duke of Orleans, Eugene Francois, Prince of Savoy, Don Luis, Prince of the Asturias, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, and Kings Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and George I. As an ornamental engraver, Bernard Picart designed and engraved plates for numerous books. He also contributed large plates to such famous sets as Les Impostures Innocentes (seventy-eight large engravings in imitation of old master engravers), the historically important Ceremonies Religieuses (1723-1743), and The Temple of the Muses (Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel).
	This beautiful engraving entitled Hercules' Combat with the Hydra, originates from The Temple of the Muses, a portfolio of sixty plates both designed and engraved by Bernard Picart. (The artist also created the separately engraved, ornamental borders surrounding each image.) Obviously, the work involved in constructing these large and complex works of art was time consuming and the entire project took all of three years to complete. The completed set was published in Amsterdam by Chatelain in 1733, the year of Bernard Picart's death. Due to the popularity of these fine engravings dealing with significant events in Greek mythology, several subsequent editions were published. This original Bernard Picart engraving hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.
Raisonne:	G. K. Nagler, Neues Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexicon, Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig, Vol. 12, p. 416.
Source:	The Temple of the Muses
Size:	13 1/2 X 10 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Buy Now	Price: $385.00 US
Condition:	Printed upon eighteenth century hand-made, laid paper and with full margins as published in Amsterdam on the above date. A strongly printed example bearing all the fine lines and tonal values of an early impression and in excellent condition throughout. Altogether Hercules' Combat with the Hydra represents a superb, original example of the engraved art of Bernard Picart from his famous Temple of the Muses.
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