Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides

By 1638 Rubens was in his early sixties and increasingly housebound, his hands knotted with gout, running the busiest painting workshop in Europe from Antwerp. Muscular mythologies like this were the kind his studio turned out in quantity for royal and princely collectors across the continent. The subject is one of the labours of Hercules. Sent to fetch the golden apples guarded at the edge of the world, the hero reaches up into the tree while a small winged cupid helps steady the branch. It was made as one of a pair, hung beside a scene of Hercules' wife Deianira. Rubens would be dead within two years, and much of the handling here was likely shared with assistants.