Death of Hercules

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Death of Hercules

Artist Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550)

Date1548

DimensionsH: 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm); W: 3 1/16 in. (7.8 cm)

Mediumengraving

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1923.3198

Not on View

Label TextAfter putting on a tunic that his wife, Deianeira, had treated with the Hydra-contaminated blood of the centaur, Nessus, Hercules’ flesh began to burn. The more he tried to stop the pain the worse it became. Itn desperation, he instructed a friend to build a funeral pyre on which he placed himself. Upon the demi-god’s death, that part of him that was divine was welcomed to Olympus where he Afassumed his place among the gods as the son of Zeus.Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Storytelling in Miniature, October 7, 2011-March 4, 2012.