Hercules Relieving Atlas of the Globe

c. 1530

Lucas Cranach the Elder

Associated Names
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Artist, German, 1472 - 1553

This is a drawing of a scene showing two men. One man is on the right, carrying a large sphere on his shoulders. This man is muscular, with short, curly hair, a short beard, and a toga partially covering his body. On the left, the other man is seated on a stone bench, looking at the man holding the sphere. This man has shorter hair and a longer beard, and he appears slightly older and is nude. The background features rolling hills, distant mountains, and patches of vegetation. A wide river curves across the landscape below, and there are some buildings along the water. The lines appear brown against the beige paper, with some areas of dark gray shading.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink over brush and gray wash over chalk on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 13.8 x 20.5 cm (5 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2006.111.2


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

J. Fairfax-Murray. Victor Koch (his sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 8 February 1923, no. 70). (sale, Sotheby's New York, 29 January 1997, no. 128, as "German School, 16th century); Private collection, Washington, DC; (Salamander Fine Arts, New York); purchased 2006 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2008

  • Medieval to Modern: Recent Acquisitions of Drawings, Prints, and Illustrated Books, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, no. 10.

2010

  • Die Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 2010, no. 119 (Guido Messling; catalogue also printed in French and Flemish).

2018

  • Dürer e il Rinascimento Tedesco, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2018.

Inscriptions

by later hand, lower left in graphite: Lucas Cranach

Wikidata ID

Q64594066

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