Deeds of Hercules and his Apotheosis
by POZZO, Andrea, Fresco
The picture shows the ceiling fresco in the Hercules Hall of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace at Rossau.
The decorative scheme of the Hercules Hall culminates in the ceiling fresco by Andrea Pozzo. The monumental painting relates the story of Hercules from his birth and the strangling of the snakes placed by his cradle by Juno, to his fight with the Nemean Lion and other monsters, his defeat of Antaeus and the Amazons, his humiliation by Omphale, his punishment of Nessus to his suicide on a funeral pyre, with Hebe suspended above it, and the allegorical triumph of his translation to Olympus.
The ceiling frescoes, on which Pozzo worked for four years, are his main work north of the Alps.