Albrecht Dürer

Ex coll. Giuseppe Storck, his inscription verso (L. 2318)

Unidentified collector’s mark (L. 2067)

With Colnaghi, London, their stock number C. 15387 in pencil verso

With Knoedler, New York, their stock number K6444 in pencil verso

Bartsch 127; Meder, Hollstein 238; Schoch, Mende, Scherbaum 105

The Molionidae, Eurytus and Cteatus, were formidable twins from Greek mythology, referenced by ancient writers such as Homer, Hesiod and Pausanias. Born from a silver egg, they were the sons of the Sea God Poseidon, who seduced their mother, Molione, in the guise of a bird. They were conjoined, sharing one body with two heads, four arms, and four legs. Possessing extraordinary strength, the twins fought to defend their uncle, King Augeas of Elis, during Hercules’ campaign against him. Initially victorious in repelling the hero’s assault, they were later ambushed and slain by Hercules near Cleonae while travelling to the Nemean Games.

Depictions of Eurytus and Cteatus are exceptionally rare in art. Though referenced in ancient literature, the myth does not seem to have had a strong visual tradition in Greco-Roman art, possibly because the story lacks the universal moral or heroic symbolism of Hercules’ better-known labours. Likewise, most Renaissance depictions of Hercules focused on his more widely known labours - like the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, or the Apples of the Hesperides - leaving more obscure myths, such as the slaying of the Molionidae, largely untouched. 

The subject of Dürer’s woodcut was only properly identified by Erika Simon[i] in the catalogue of the Nuremberg Dürer exhibition of 1971. Dürer’s decision to illustrate this little-known scene reflects the influence on him of humanist scholarship. Humanists in Nuremberg and elsewhere delighted in rediscovering and sharing lesser-known classical myths, and Dürer, as a highly educated artist, likely had access to such texts through the learned circle centring around his intimate friend, Williabald Pirckheimer. This obscure myth may also have appealed to his penchant for creating unique, intellectually stimulating works. The print would undoubtedly have been intended for a learned patron, one of the select few to be versed in this obscure subject.

The artist has drawn upon his experience of Italian art in this woodcut. He learned the look of nude figures from Roman sculpture, sometimes in violent action, and learned the look of restricted depth from Roman relief. Dürer derived the figure of Fury wielding an animal bone from Andrea Mantegna’s (1431-1506) engraving, Battle of the Sea Gods[ii]; see Durer’s pen and ink copy of the right half of Mantegna’s work in the Albertina, Vienna (fig. 1). The artist has challenged the iconic status of such Italian masterpieces of dramatic action, through displaying his genius in the medium of the woodcut, entirely without precedent.

[i] Erika Simon, ‘Die Rezeption der Antike’, Albrecht Dürer, 1471 - 1971, Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 1971

[ii] Giulia Bartrum et al, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, British Museum Press, 2002, cat. no. 49