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Engraving of nude Hercules with club standing beside a fire where a figure lies, with a distant walled city and river in the background.

The Death of Hercules, engraving by Hans Sebald Beham

An engraving shows a muscular nude man with a club and lion skin draped over his shoulder, standing at right and gazing at a flaming pyre. A figure lies on the ground at left, bathed in fire and smoke, while a classical city rises across the water in the distance. Inscription text and the date 1548 appear in the upper right and lower right corners.

Artist
Hans Sebald Beham
Date
1542–48
Medium
Engraving on off-white laid paper
Source
Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)
Size
3999 × 2713 px
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Public domain · Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum) releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1548).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Smithsonian Institution, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Greek and Roman Myths16th century1540sengravingmythologyrenaissance printnude figurehans sebald behamclublion skinpyreherculesblack and white

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