0537HeraclesDeianeira

Louvre on-line
Louvre on-line for Louvre version Ovid Met. 8.542-9.133

Guido Reni, "Deianeira Abducted by Nessus," 1620-21, Louvre, Paris, inv. 536; coupled with "Hercules Fighting with Achelous" in cycle "Feats of Hercules" or "Power and Triumph of the Gonzaga"

T. Gottheiner, "Rediscovery of Old Masters at Prague Castle," The Burlington Magazine 107, no. 753, Dec. 1965, 600-608. [JSTOR] [Cf. Gottheiner p. 603 for BW reproduction.]

D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni: a complete catalogue of his works, with an introductory text (Oxford: Phaidon, 1984).

A classical painting, "The Centaur Nessus and Deianeira" by Guido Reni, depicting a centaur carrying a woman

"Reni painted a series of four scenes from the life and death of Heracles for Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, in 1621. When the original Nessus and Deianeira was removed to Prague (where it still is) during the sack of Mantua by the troops of Charles V, Reni replaced it with this splendid and romantic interpretation of the myth. ... Reni focuses on the joy of the centaur, soon to be turned to tragedy for himself, Deianeira, and Heracles."

This Prague version, intended within its original context for Gonzaga, clearly lacks the momentary delight experienced by Nessus in the later Louvre version.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.