Hercules Slaying Antaeus

Hercules slaying Antaeus, c. 1460, is a painting by the Florentine artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo. It is small at 6 x 3 1/2 inches, painted in egg tempera on a panel of wood. It is now in the Uffizi gallery, Florence.

The painting shows the mythical giant Antaeus, son of Gaia, goddess of the Earth, being crushed to death in the arms of Heracles. Hercules was a Florentine hero, regarded as an image of the Florentine state - its ruthless and warlike spirit - which furthered its political and economic success.

It is assumed that both this and Hercules Slaying the Hydra are miniature copies by the artist of two out of the three enormous (some 12 feet square) paintings on canvas of the Labours of Hercules commissioned from Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo by Piero di Cosimo de' Medici for the Sala Grande of the Palazzo Medici in the 1460s, which have now been lost.