Hercules and the Mares of Diomedes: Hercules grasps the bridle of a rearing horse, a second horse tramples a figure in at right, from the series 'The Labors of Hercules' 1608

Antonio Tempesta created this print depicting Hercules and the Mares of Diomedes sometime around 1600. It shows one of the hero’s twelve labors, a set of stories that were immensely popular in the Renaissance. As an Italian artist, Tempesta was part of a culture fascinated by classical antiquity. Printmaking was a burgeoning industry and these images circulated widely. They were collected and copied and used as models in other arts. Scenes of violence, like the one we see here, were especially esteemed as demonstrations of artistic skill, and were tied to notions of masculinity and power. The bodies of the figures are highly stylized and posed, reflecting the influence of the Italian Renaissance on artistic academies of the period. A full understanding of this print requires us to delve into the history of printmaking, Renaissance classicism, and the social values of the artist's time. These are just some of the resources that art historians draw upon in interpreting works like this.