Infant Hercules with Serpents, Pen and Brown Ink Drawing

A sketch in pen and brown ink with brown wash shows a chubby infant sprawled diagonally across the sheet, grappling with a coiled serpent at lower left. Soft hatching models the body, and the tan laid paper shows faint staining and a wide margin.

Artist

Follower of Parmigianino

Date

1523/1540

Medium

Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash (recto), and pen and brown ink with traces of red chalk (verso), on tan laid paper

Source

Art Institute of Chicago

Size

1686 × 1249 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection