| Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán used strong contrasts of light and shadow to dramatize this scene from the life of the mythological hero Hercules. Struggle of Hercules with the Hydra of Lerna (1634, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain) shows Hercules battling a nine-headed serpent called the Hydra. Each time one of its heads was cut off, the Hydra would grow two more in its place. Standing to one side with a torch is Hercules's nephew Iolaus, who, according to one version of the story, helped to cauterize the necks of the monster after Hercules cut the heads off, thereby preventing them from growing back. This painting measures 136 + 167 cm (54 x 66 in). |
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