Hercules mocked by Omphale

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) shows Hercules as a colossal figure from Antiquity even when depicting the virile hero as a figure of fun, enslaved to the Lydian Queen Omphale. Dating to around 1606, his painting of the subject of Hercules mocked by Omphale shows Hercules sitting centrally, mostly naked, with purloined club and lionskin while Omphale tweaks his ear. With a coloured piece of silk-like cloth covering his hair and genitals, he holds a fine thread and distaff. He appears also to be romantically smitten, thus making him powerless to fight back even though he is clearly still musclebound and it would have been expected that the reaction of fighting back would have accorded with his more usual inclinations. Two young courtiers with yarn and other spinning implements are by his bent knee whilst behind, and unseen by the hero is an old woman making the finger gesture of the cuckold.

Hercules mocked by Omphale, oil on canvas, 278 cm x 215 cm, ca. 1606–1607, artist: Peter Paul Rubens, photographer: Franck Raux; source: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010060847, © 2017 RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre).