A Brussels mythological tapestry, The Labours of Hercules (4): Hercules wrestling with the Nemean ...

A Brussels mythological tapestry,
The Labours of Hercules (4): Hercules wrestling with the Nemean Lion,
probably mid-16th century, in the manner of Bernard van Orley, the first labour of Hercules, the background with subsidiary scenes including, Hercules receiving the commands of Eurystheus and Hercules using the fork of a tree to skin the lion, with an en suite border and the Brussels town mark,
12ft x 12ft 8in (366 x 387cm)

Provenance: By repute the Pallavicino Family, by descent to, Marchese Serra, Palazzo Verde, Genoa;
from whom purchased by J Pierpont Morgan and gifted to Walter Hayes Burns;
Christie's North Mymms Park, September 1979, lot 499.

After Hercules, in a fit of madness, had slain his wife and children, the, Delphic Oracle commanded him, in punishment for his crime, to go to King Eurystheus and perform whatever tasks might be demanded of him. The first of the twelve Labours of Hercules was to bring him the skin of the Nemean Lion which Hercules, strangled with his bare hands. Future episodes in the series show Hercules wearing the lion skin.