Attributed to Giulio ROMANO (1499-1546)Hercules... Lot 21

Attributed to Giulio ROMANO (1499-1546)Hercules and AtlasPaper mounted on canvas (two parts)Old restorationsAttr. to G. Romano, Hercules and Atlas, paper laid on canvas (two parts)41,5 x 56 CM - 16 3/8 X 22 IN. ExpositionMaîtres anciens, Paris, Société Labatut, 1995, n° 2.BibliographieCatalogue d'exposition de la galerie Serre, Maîtres anciens, 1995, Société Labatut, pp. 7 to 9, n° 2.This study was compared to a drawing by the Cabinet des arts graphiques du Louvre, from the Jabach collection (41.2 x 26.1 CM ; inv 3480) where it was already given to Giulio Romano. It represents the figure on the left of our painting, the only variant being the position of the head (see exhibition catalogue, Peter Greenaway le bruit des nuages, Paris 1992-1993, n° 3). The elders represented the celestial vault as a sphere. The subject of Hercules helping Atlas to support the World is illustrated in the Renaissance by several artists, for example Bernardino Luini's great fresco at the Landriani Palace in Milan (deposited at Castello Sforzesco, around 1513-1515), Albert Dürer's drawing (formerly at the Kunsthalle in Bremen) or Heinrich Aldegrever's engraving from 1550 in Northern Europe.