Who painted Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra?

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra was painted by Gustave Moreau in 1876.

Where can I see Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra?

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra is held by Art Institute of Chicago.

What movement is Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra?

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra is associated with Impressionism.

Can I buy a print of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra?

Museum-quality prints of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra

Gustave Moreau , 1876

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Gustave Moreau. It dates from 1876 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

About this work

Overview

Gustave Moreau’s oil on canvas, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1876, portrays the mythic encounter between Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra. The composition places the youthful hero in a murky swamp, poised to strike the creature’s seventh head, which in the legend is immortal. The scene is dominated by a palette of sickly greens and browns, creating a dense, almost static atmosphere.

Subject & Meaning

The painting visualizes the second of Hercules’ twelve labors: the slaying of the multi‑headed water monster.

The painting visualizes the second of Hercules’ twelve labors: the slaying of the multi‑headed water monster. Moreau emphasizes the grotesque rather than the triumphant, surrounding the hero with the decaying remnants of previous victims and a mass of serpentine heads that coil like smoke. Some scholars suggest the work reflects post‑1870 French anxieties, casting Hercules as a symbolic France confronting a threatening Hydra that could represent Prussia.

Technique & Style

Moreau combines meticulous draftsmanship with a dreamlike palette. He prepared extensive studies, even sketching live snakes at the Paris zoo, before applying layers of glaze that give the swamp its luminous, oily quality. Thick impasto in the foreground contrasts with translucent washes, allowing the heads and foliage to appear both solid and ethereal.

History & Provenance

First shown publicly at the 1876 Salon, the canvas was acquired by the French state shortly after its debut. It has remained in public collections, traveling only for major retrospectives of Moreau’s work, and continues to be cited as a key example of his late‑career mythological painting.

Context

Created in the aftermath of France’s defeat in the Franco‑Prussian War, the work reflects the artist’s preoccupation with national trauma and moral struggle. Moreau’s fascination with the macabre and the symbolic use of myth align the painting with contemporary Symbolist tendencies, while its classical subject anchors it in the academic tradition of the Salon.