# Hercules Attacking the Lernean Hydra [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [FONTANA, Annibale]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Rock crystal, enamel, and gold, 10 x 13 cm ## Commentary This engraved plaque shows a scene from the life of the mythological hero Hercules and was initially set into a sumptuous, gilded casket that belonged to the ducal Gonzaga family of Mantua. Hercules was famous for his strength and virtue, and princes often surrounded themselves with his image as an ideal for \(and an idealized image of\) themselves. This scene is from the Twelve Labors of Hercules, tasks given to him by King Eurystheus, who thought they were impossible to accomplish, including killing a many-headed hydra \(dragon\). At some point the casket was taken apart; eight related plaques are preserved. Hercules's powerful musculature reveals Fontana's study of ancient sculpture. ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Bust of Ottavio Farnese]() - [Bust of Ottavio Farnese]() - [Detail of the façade]() - [Drug Jar for Mithridate and Drug Jar for Theriac]() - [Drug Jar for Theriac]() - [Francesco Ferdinando as Hercules Plucking the Apples of the Hesperides \(reverse\)]() - [Francesco Ferdinando d'Ávalos \(obverse\)]() - [Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo \(obverse\)]() - [Hercules and Achelous]() - [Hercules and Achelous]() - [Hercules and Nessus]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()