Venetian School, Late 18th Century - Hercules Vanquishing A Drakaina

Venetian School, late 18th century
Hercules Vanquishing a Drakaina

Pen and dark‑brown ink with grey wash on laid paper
23.5 × 18.5 cm (oval)

Provenance
Private collection, France

In this small cabinet oval, Hercules raises his club and crushes a hybrid monster—half woman, half serpent—an exceptionally rare iconography that departs from the usual depictions of the Hydra or Antaeus. The deliberately broken outline, the broad grey washes, and the foliage sketched in quick looping strokes link the sheet to the Venetian decorative manner of the 1780s, close to the circle of Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, a late heir to the Tiepolo style. The rarity of the subject, the freshness of the wash, and the intimate format make this drawing a valuable witness to Venetian mythological inventiveness on the eve of the 19th century.