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PAG2-moreau-hercules-jpg

A half-tone reproduction of Moreau’s painting, “Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra” (1875/6), the image portrays a confrontation between the mythical figure of Hercules and a 7-headed hydra. To the right of the image is the Hydra, a snake with its heads and much of its length in the air. The part of the body on the ground is not visible. There is one large central head with six smaller heads (three to its left, three to its right) along the upper quarter of its body. The monster is in three quarter profile and faces left towards Hercules. The Hydra is surrounded by dead bodies; most are strewn behind it in a blurred mass of flesh and shadow. In the foreground of the Hydra, one body, a nude male, is laid out in full. Its legs are bent with his left leg in full view and his feet pointing to the right. His leg points towards the left with his right arm stretched out on the ground below his head. On the left side of the image stands Hercules, with the front of his body facing the viewer and his face turned right towards the Hydra. He holds a bow in his left hand, held close to his chest. His right arm rests at his side while holding a quiver of arrows in his right hand. Hercules is mainly nude except for a piece of cloth wrapped around his left hip and genitals. On his head, he wears another piece of cloth hanging down his back. He carries a shield on his back. The two figures, hero and monster, confront each other in a ravine between two cliffs that frame the image. In the background, a cloudy night sky is portrayed with a full moon peeking out from the top of a cloud that hangs between the two cliff faces.