# Hercules and Omphale [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ROMANELLI, Giovanni Francesco]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 100 x 133 cm ## Commentary Hercules and Omphale 1650s Oil on canvas, 100 x 133 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg The subject of the painting was taken from the Biblotheca by Apollodoros. The mythological story depicted in the painting is the following. For murdering his friend Iphitus in a fit of madness Hercules was sold as a slave to Omphale, queen of Lydia, for three years \(Apollodorus 2.6:3\). But she soon alleviated his lot by making him her lover. While in her service he grew effeminate, wearing women's clothes and adornments, and spinning yarn. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 8 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/19\_cent/saint-saens\_omphale.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Camille Saint-Saens: Le rouet d'Omphale \(Omphale's Spinning Wheel\), symphonic poem op. 31</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [Ceiling decoration \(detail\)]() - [Ceiling decoration]() - [Ceres]() - [Rest on the Flight into Egypt]() - [St Cecilia]() - [St Cecilia]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()