Artus Quellinus I, Hercules and the Nemean Lion

In Greek mythology, Hercules was the illegitimate son of Zeus and Alkmene, a mortal woman. He was manipulated by Zeus’s wife, Hera, into unknowingly killing his wife and children. To atone for his sins, Hercules had to endure a long and harsh punishment from the gods. He had to perform 12 Labours or feats that were so difficult that they seemed almost impossible to regain his immortality.

His first task was to defeat the Nemean Lion, a wild beast that terrorised the region. A heroic life or death battle, in other words, from which the muscular Hercules emerged triumphant. In Quellinus’s statue Hercules and the Nemean Lion, the demigod holds the lion in a stranglehold.

Artus Quellinus I (1609-1668) was one of the greatest Baroque sculptors of the Southern Netherlands. He was born into the Quellinus family, a famous family of artists. Artus was the son of Erasmus Quellinus I and the uncle of Artus Quellinus II, both of whom were well-known sculptors.

Artus was also a close friend of Rubens. Peter Paul mentored the young artist, furthering his career. Rubens’s influence is also evident in Artus’s work: he copied many of his well-known and lesser-known motifs. This terracotta sculpture is a good example. Its design is directly inspired by some of Rubens’s sketches.

During his lifetime, Rubens drew Hercules’s confrontation with the lion several times after seeing this powerful motif in Rome on a famous ancient relief. In an early drawing, he emphasised Hercules’s muscular body. In another sketch, Hercules fights the lion, with one foot resting on an already vanquished leopard. On yet another sheet, Rubens drew several scenes featuring Hercules, with three variations of the struggle at the bottom.

Although the composition was the same each time, the positions of Hercules and the lion are slightly different in each sketch. The drawings highlight Rubens’s quest for perfection: how to capture Hercules’s power and movement in one image? Rubens was always trying new options in his sketches, with some of them also inspiring painted compositions. Unfortunately, Rubens’s painting of this struggle was lost, and only a copy remains.

It is easy to see why Rubens was fascinated with Hercules. The demigod represented strength, as well as suffering, perseverance, and redemption. Themes that related to his own art.

Rubens’s admiration is evident in the numerous drawings he created of Hercules. But he also installed a large statue of the demigod in his garden, in a calmer, victorious pose. A timeless symbol of power and triumph, and a mirror of Rubens’s humanist ideal.

Artus Quellinus I may have had some input from his brother Erasmus Quellinus II, who worked closely with Rubens, for the creation of this sculpture. He may even have received personal guidance from his friend Rubens.

The Rubenshuis acquired this artwork in 1979. At the time, it was attributed to an unknown sculptor from the circle of Quellinus I. In 2022, Bieke van der Mark of the Rijksmuseum utilised state-of-the-art techniques to study the sculpture. Based on this research, Bieke van der Mark attributed this work to Quellinus for the first time in the exhibition Van crabbelinghe tot carton (Museum Plantin-Moretus, 2023).

The similarities to Quellinus’s other Hercules in Labor et Constantia, from 1639, proved decisive. Both sculptures feature the same techniques and details, and even the same expression on the demigod’s face.

This sculpture continues to intrigue art historians. A study of the fingerprints in the terracotta is currently ongoing with many more surprising discoveries to follow!

What is unusual about this large terracotta sculpture is the level of detail and finish. In the Baroque and Renaissance periods, artists often used terracotta – fired clay – as an intermediate stage, creating modellos to explain their ideas to patrons or assistants. These were later executed in stone or bronze.

Here, however, the process was different. The refined finish and minute details mean this work is not just another model, but a work of art in its own right.

When Erasmus Quellinus II died, his heirs established an inventory of his assets. The list includes the following entry: ‘Hercules defeating the Lion by Artus Quellinus’. If this is the case, this means that this impressive artwork was never sold and that the Quellinus brothers could not bear to part with it.