Updated 24 October 2024
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Hercules and Omphale
| Date | c. 1640 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 127 x 180.3 |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1999-0002 |
This painting is an extremely rare example of a secular subject amongst the works of Bernardo Cavallino, a major, talented 17th-century Neapolitan painter who died at a young age. This work is thought to have been painted when the artist was about 34 years old. The rendering of light from the left and against a dark background is typical of the superb Carravaggist expression of the Neapolitan school. The subject tells the tale of Hercules, who has completed his twelve labors and is set to work spinning thread for the Lydian queen Omphale. It seems that the hero, confident in his physical prowess, is troubled by the women's work of spinning thread, and he becomes the butt of jokes in the face of his inability to carry out what was a simple task for the women of the day. This meeting between Hercules and Omphale led them to fall in love, but the uneasy expression on the face of Amore, seen in the shadows, suggests the unfortunate outcome of such love. The influence of Jusepe de Ribera can be seen in the roughhewn depiction of Hercules's body. Unlike the mathematically logical spatial compositions of the Renaissance, this painting reveals the strong influence of Caravaggio, in a Baroque space alive with contrasting light and darkness and pigments. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 20)
Provenance
Allomello Collection, Roma, before 1957; Private Collection, Switzerland; Purchased by the NMWA, 2000.
Exhibition History
- 2014
- Voices Calling from the Unusual: Hirano Keiichiro's Selection of Western Art Masterpieces, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 8 April 2014 - 15 June 2014, cat. no. 18
- 2017
- [Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017] Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: From the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, 22 April 2017 - 2 July 2017, Akita Museum of Modern Art, 15 July-18 September, cat. no. 20
Bibliography
- 1957
- Causa, Raffaello. La pittura napoletana dal XV al XIX secolo. Bergamo, 1957 , p. 42.
- 1972
- Causa, Raffaello. La pittura del Seicento a Napoli dal naturalismo, al Barocco. Storia di Napoli. vol. 5, 1972, pp. 942, 982, n. 108.
- 1984
- Lurie, A. T.; Percy, Ann (eds.). Bernardo Cavallino of Naples; 1616-1656 (exh. cat.). The Cleveland Museum & The Kimbell Art Museum, 1984, pp. 15-16, 93, no. 22.
- 1985
- Bernardo Cavallino (1616-1656) (exh. cat.). Napoli, 1985, p. 209, c. 7 (only in catalogue).
- 2001
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 34 (April 1999-March 2000), 2001, Takanashi Mitsumasa. New Acquisitions. pp. 12-15, List of New Acquisitions. p. 44, col. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 20, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 20, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 34, col. repr.
- 2017
- Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017 (exh. cat.). Nakada, Asuka, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2017, pp. 45, 139, cat. no. 20, col. repr.
- 2021
- When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 77, 178, cat. no. Y2_31 | T2_34, col. repr.