The Infant Hercules Strangling Serpents in His Cradle (recto); Crowned Woman Kneeling in Landscape, and Other Sketches (verso) n.d.

Prospero Fontana made this pen and brown ink drawing of the Infant Hercules Strangling Serpents in His Cradle in sixteenth-century Italy. It reflects the rising vogue for classical subjects during the Renaissance. The image draws on a story from Greek mythology, where Hercules, son of Zeus, demonstrates his superhuman strength as an infant by strangling two serpents sent to kill him. Fontana’s image underscores the period’s fascination with the heroic and the divine but also conveys some traditional patriarchal values. The helpless infant and the distressed adults create a scene of intense emotional and physical drama. This drawing, now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, invites us to delve into the societal values of Renaissance Italy, and to consider how classical stories were used to reinforce contemporary beliefs about masculinity and power. Examining the drawing's provenance, artistic techniques, and cultural context would help reveal deeper understandings of its meanings and significance.