by-nc
IIIF logo Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Hercules killing the Lernaean Hydra

Maker

School of
(artist)
1577-1640

Title

Hercules killing the Lernaean Hydra

Date of Production

1639 - 1640

Medium

charcoal, moistened in areas, with white bodycolour, touches of brown wash and red bodycolour (on serpent's eye) on brown laid paper, laid down and inlaid into a support

Dimensions

Height: 45.2 cm
Width: 22.5 cm

Accession Number

D.1978.PG.325

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords



Related Works

Hercules defeating Achelous Hercules Killing the Hydra

Provenance

Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1585-1646); unknown collector (mid-17th century), L.2908; Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769-1830), L.2445; ceded by his executors to Samuel Woodburn (London), 1835; Woodburn estate sale, Christie’s (London), 4 - 8 June 1860, lot 779; purchased there by 'Morant' for £9.19.6d (as per the annotated catalouge at the V&A); William Bingham Compton, 6th Marquess of Northampton (1885-1978); his sale, Christie's (London), 1 May 1959, lot 11; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978) (£546); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989

Exhibition of the Collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Lawrence Gallery, London, 1835

Literature

Logan, Anne-Marie, ‘Review. Rubens. Paintings, Drawings, and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection [Exhibition Catalogue] by Helen Braham’, Master Drawings, XXIX, 1991, pp. 314-15
p. 314
as anonymous copy by one hand from the Rubens school

Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 21
no. 21 and pp. 2, 16, 19, 30 under no. 35, 44
ill. on p. 17
as School of Rubens reworked by another hand, probably late 1639-May 1640; in file

Balis, Arnout, translated from the Dutch by P.S. Falla, Rubens hunting scenes (CRLB), London 1986
pp. 224, 232 note 67
as a copy then reworked by a skilled hand, suggested possibly Erasmus Quellinus ...More

Kauffmann, Claus Michael, Catalogue of the Paintings in the Wellington Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum catalogues, London, 1982
p. 127 under no. 158

Held, Julius S., The oil sketches of Peter Paul Rubens: a critical catalogue, Princeton 1980
p. 278 under no. 192
agrees with Alpers it was by a pupil; in file but p. no. cut off

Jaffé, Michael, 'Book Reviews. Gregory Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish school ca. 1600 - ca. 1900, London, 1970 and Antoine Seilern, Flemish Paintings and Drawings at 56 Princes Gate London, Addenda, London, 1969' in 'Art Bulletin', 1973 - pp. 462-64; 55
p. 464
suggested Diepenbeeck

Alpers, Svetlana, The decoration of the Torre de la Parada (CRLB), London 1971
p. 220 under no. 30 and p. 275
fig. 119
as a copy; only p. 220 in file

Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; IV
no. 325
pl. XL
as Rubens, dated before March 1638; in file

Christie's, London, Old Master drawings from the collection of the Marquess of Northampton, D.S.O., 1 May 1959
lot 11
ill.
as Rubens; in file

Exhibition of the Collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Lawrence Gallery, London, 1836
cat. no. 32 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: upper centre: small bunch of grapes (approx. 30 cm high, 15 wide, 20 cm between chain lines; not found in Briquet or Piccard. Listed in Peter Bower's 2017 report as having no watermark). Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D), Verso: upper centre edge, only visible in raking light so hard to read: WHATMAN / 182[?]".

Label: Formerly on a board backing the frame, now missing, but recorded in the file: printed with "Lord Spencer Compton".

Inscription: Recto: lower left over some bodycolour, graphite: “x”; lower left edge, brown ink: “P.P.R”. Verso (hidden under backing sheet, only visible via transmitted light): upper left, ink: “F.”; lower right corner, ink: “Pietro Paulo Rubens”. Support, Recto: upper left corner, graphite, partially cut off: “NLD […]”; lower left, graphite: “24”. Verso (backing sheet): lower left corner, graphite, underlined: “ae”. Mount (removed, in portfolio from P&D), Recto: upper left, graphite: "9 1/2 G"; upper centre edge, graphite: “L”; lower centre, graphite, erased: “No. 32”; lower edge, graphite: “Exhibited by Woodburn in / 1835. No. 32. / Rubens. The Arundel, Lawrence Collec. &c. / Hercules Destroying the Hydra. / The picture is in the Escorial £31 10.0 Rubens / No. 32 [erased]”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower centre, stamped in black: unidentified collector (L.2908); lower left corner, blindstamped: Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection