Hercules at the Crossroads from Albrecht Dürer
Katharina Wieland, Head of Prints (15th–19th Century), presents the outstanding print Hercules at the Crossroads by Albrecht Dürer in this video.
Hercules at the Crossroads (The Jealousy; The Great Satyr), Lot 266
Etching on laid paper, watermark ‘Kleiner Krug’ (Meder 158, circa 1525). (circa 1498). 32 x 22.2 cm (sheet).
This outstanding sheet by Albrecht Dürer, known under several titles such as Hercules at the Crossroads, The Jealousy or The Great Satyr, is an excellent, black and clear lifetime print with impressive light-dark contrasts.
On 20 August 1520, Dürer presented Mr Brandao, the factor of the Portuguese trading post in Antwerp, with a selection of his best engravings, presumably including this work. In his Dutch travel diary of 1520/21, he simply referred to the sheet as ‘Hercules’. However, the exact interpretation of the motif was long disputed: Under the titles The Effects of Jealousy, The Cuckold and The Great Satyr, art historian Erwin Panofsky finally convincingly identified the mythological background as the choice of the young Hercules at the crossroads – a classic theme dating back to the traditions of Prodicus and Xenophon. Hercules is faced with the choice between virtue and vice.
Dürer’s interpretation remains deliberately ambiguous: whether the hero defends virtue, symbolised by the standing woman with a club, or supports the sinful couple of woman and satyr remains open. The iconography of the putto with the flying songbird and Hercules’ lavish headdress, which features horns and a cock, has not been conclusively interpreted to this day.
The composition is closely related to an earlier pen-and-ink drawing by Dürer, probably made in 1494 during his first stay in Italy, which is now kept in the Kupferstichkabinett (Inv. No. 23006) of the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
Provenance:
Gabriel Cognacq (1880–1951), Paris, verso with collector’s stamp (Lugt 538d);
Alcide Donnadieu (after 1791–1861), London and Paris, verso with handwritten notation in light brown ink, dated ‘1827’ (Lugt 538d).
Estimate: 70,000/ €80,000
As announced in the print catalogue (page 24), Katharina Wieland, head of the print department, will personally present Albrecht Dürer’s print in an expert video.
