Hercules by Albrecht Durer

In the engraving “Hercules” Albrecht Durer embodied a mythological theme. The artist painted a stormy scene. Someone in expensive armor is thrown to the ground. A pile of worthless iron seems to be his shell and helmet. Helplessly fell to the ground his hands – one with a sword, the other with a dagger.

He is contemptuously trampled by a powerful, half-naked man. The clothes of the winner are the skin of a boar, a club is a bone. In desperation, the girl covers her head with her hands, and over her a donkey half-naked old woman raged her ass. It seems that you can hear the whistling of the dissecting air, that now a terrible blow will sound.

Blackness in the air confusion branches, dropped almost all the foliage, calm lake surface. A weak wind blows the ship’s straight sail. A lock seems sleepy. The drowsy calm of the landscape, its clear clarity, make the drama of the just-finished single combat even more dramatic, and the motive of retribution is made even louder.