Hercules and Cerberus

In 1634 Philip IV of Spain was finishing a new pleasure palace on the edge of Madrid, the Buen Retiro, and its grandest room, the Hall of Realms, was being fitted out to glorify the crown. Zurbaran was handed part of the job, ten scenes of the labours of Hercules, because the Spanish kings claimed the hero as a distant ancestor. This is the last labour, dragging Cerberus, the three-headed dog, up out of the underworld. The canvases were meant to hang high on the wall, which is why the figures are lit hard from below and read cleanly from far off. Zurbaran made his name on still, quiet monks and saints, and muscular action like this was rare for him.