Hercules and the Hydra

This was royal propaganda for a specific room. In 1634 Zurbarán was commissioned to paint ten scenes of the labours of Hercules for the Hall of Realms, the throne room of Philip IV's new pleasure palace, the Buen Retiro, on the edge of Madrid. The Spanish Habsburgs claimed Hercules as their mythical ancestor, so each of the hero's feats hanging high on those walls was meant to read as a mirror of the king's own strength. Here Hercules grapples with the many-headed Hydra, its serpent necks writhing out of the dark while a burst of fire glows behind. Zurbarán, better known for still quiet monks and saints, models the straining nude body with the hard light and deep shadow he learned from Caravaggio's example. The flames on the right are the detail that gives the labour away, the moment Hercules has fire brought in to sear each severed neck so it cannot grow back.