Herakles erlegt den Adler des Prometheus

1781/1785

Henry Fuseli1741 Zürich – 1825 Putney Hill/London
We have 121 artworks by Henry Fuseli online.
We have 2511 paintings online.
According to the myth, which can be grasped for the first time at Hesiod (Theogony, 521-534), Prometheus creates man from the old deities of the Titans and steals fire for him. As punishment Zeus has him forged on the rocks of the Caucasus; every day the eagle feeds from his liver. After many generations Heracles slays the eagle and frees Prometheus. To the compositional sketch (dat. Jan. 1781, Kunsthaus Zürich; Gert Schiff: Johann Heinrich Füssli 1741-1825, 2 vols. (Zürich et al. 1973; = Oeuvrekataloge Schweizer Künstler 1), no. 800) Füssli wrote in Greek: 'For the sublime is without measure' and thus refers to the new conception of the poet as creator.
Also known as
Prometheus wird von Hercules gerettet Heracles Saves Prometheus from the Eagle Heraclès tuant l’aigle de Prométhée
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
image: 63 x 76 cm
Inventory number
1998/0002
Credit line
Kunsthaus Zürich, Donated by Gustav Zumsteg, 1998