Hercules and Cerberus
1634.Not on display
Hercules is depicted here fighting with his club against Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades, which lunges at him with its three ferocious mouths. According to the classical Greek myth, the last of the 12 labours that Hercules was commanded to complete was to bring Cerberus forth from the underworld. The rope with which he is pulling Cerberus indicates he is on the verge of gaining control over the beast. This canvas was one of a series of 12 paintings commissioned in 1634 by Philip IV from Francisco de Zurbarán to decorate the Hall of Realms (Salón de Reinos) in the Buen Retiro Palace. Two were large history paintings (including The Defense of Cádiz against the English 1634 (P656)), while each of the remaining ten depicted one of Hercules´s labours. These ten canvases were to be hung at a certain height, which explains the scale and perspective of this painting. So as to make the hero´s powerful physique and the drama of his undertakings more evident, Zurbarán chose to place Hercules in the foreground of each painting, a decision that undoubtedly must have produced a curious and powerful visual effect in the Hall. Along with Zurbarán´s series, the Hall of Realms, where the throne was situated, was decorated with the coats of arms of all the kingdoms under Spanish control; equestrian portraits of kings and queens, including Philip´s parents and his heir; and 12 paintings depicting recent battles that had concluded favourably for Spain. The presence of the pagan hero -in multiple iterations- is perfectly justified if we recall that Hercules was considered the mythical founder of the Spanish monarchy. Indeed, the motto Plus ultra (Further beyond) that appears on the Spanish coat of arms comes precisely from this character´s story -the famous motto Non plus ultra (No further beyond) applied to the Pillars of Hercules. The figure of Hercules not only completed the genealogical discourse implicit in the equestrian portraits by Diego Velázquez for the Hall, but he also represented the virtues that should govern the prince´s actions. In this regard, it is important to stress that, according to political theory of the time, the office of king not only brought with it a series of privileges, but also implied specific responsibilities toward his subjects. For this reason, many of the decorative schema for royal palaces drew on allegorical sources, alluding through such iconography to the virtues that legitimated the king´s exercise of power. Frequently, such allusions were made with the figure of the mythological hero par excellence: Hercules, who through his labours exemplified cunning, prudence, loyalty, abnegation and a sense of duty. The various labours of Hercules were fairly well known in Spain, where they had been disseminated not only in translations of classical texts, but also through compilations of mythological tales, works of literary creation, theatrical performances, festivals and celebrations and even sermons. In fact, one of the first works of literature of the early modern period in Spain is Los doce trabajos de Hércules (The Twelve Labours of Hercules) by the Marquis of Villena. Such precedents guaranteed the intelligibility of Zurbarán´s paintings, in accordance with the narrative clarity that predominated in the rest of the Hall of Realms.
Ruiz Gómez, Leticia, En El Palacio del Rey Planeta, Úbeda de los Cobos, A. (ed), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2005, p.164
