Deianira and the centaur Nessus
Luca Giordano·1672
Historical Context
Giordano's Deianira and the Centaur Nessus from 1672 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes depicts the mythological episode that ultimately caused Hercules' death: the centaur Nessus, while ferrying Hercules' wife Deianira across a river, attempted to abduct her. Hercules shot Nessus with a poisoned arrow, and the dying centaur gave Deianira his blood, claiming it would ensure her husband's fidelity. Years later, Deianira soaked Hercules' shirt in the centaur's blood — which was actually poisonous — and his agonizing death resulted. Giordano's large (201 by 249 cm) treatment of the abduction scene belongs to his Baroque grand manner at full scale, the violent struggle between the powerful centaur and the abducted woman filling the canvas with dynamic physical energy. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes, housed in the eighteenth-century Carré d'Art's predecessor and now in the modern building adjacent to the Maison Carrée, holds this as an important example of Italian Baroque large-scale narrative painting in a French provincial collection.
Technical Analysis
The violent confrontation between the centaur and the struggling Deianira creates a powerfully dynamic composition. Giordano renders the mythological creature's dual nature with anatomical conviction.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the powerfully dynamic composition of the violent abduction — Giordano renders the centaur Nessus and the struggling Deianira in a composition of maximum physical tension.
- ◆Look at the centaur's dual nature rendered with anatomical conviction: the human torso and equine body are integrated convincingly, making the mythological creature feel physically real.
- ◆Find Deianira's active resistance: Giordano renders her struggle against the centaur with the same physical immediacy he brings to his battle scenes.
- ◆Observe that the Musée de Nîmes holds this work — the French provincial museums hold important Italian Baroque paintings acquired during the Revolutionary period when French armies took art from across Europe.
