Hercules Defeating the Nemean Lion
2022 © Maxim Tabachnik
The Triumph of GalateaCouncil of the GodsThe Wedding Banquet of Cupid and PsycheVenus and CapricornBacchus and AriadneCupid and the Three GracesMercury Brings Psyche up to OlympusPerseus and MedusaCupid Pleads with Jupiter for PsycheHercules and the HydraFame and Medusa's VictimsVenus and the DovesHead of a YouthThe Rape of GanymedeVenus Appeals to Ceres and JunoHercules Defeating the Nemean LionThe Fall of PhaetonDionysian ProcessionMercuryPutti with CerberusAbduction of Orithyia by BoreasThe Wedding of Alexander and RoxaneCeiling of the Hall of GalateaVenus Presenting Psyche to CupidThe CharioteerLyra and ApolloCeiling with Putti and GarlandCorridor of the GrotesquesZephyrus Blowing on FloraMarine Scene with NereidsIllusionistic Architecture and StatuePutto with TridentGrotesque Ceiling with Flying FigureThe Family of Darius Before AlexanderVenus and JupiterPutto with ThunderboltsApollo and the Centaur

Hercules Defeating the Nemean LionBaldassare Peruzzi

857
This fresco (c. 1511) in the Loggia of Galatea shows Hercules wrestling the invulnerable Nemean Lion, one of his Twelve Labors. The hero’s twisting nude body and the lion’s straining muscles emphasize physical struggle and controlled force. As part of a zodiac cycle, the scene represents the sign of Leo and links mythological heroism to Renaissance interests in astrology and humanist virtue.