Hercules and Omphale

The central figure of a nude man wears an ivy-leaf crown and holds a spear in his left hand. His wine cup has fallen to the ground, and he is supported under his right arm by an elderly bearded man. At the right a partially nude woman with a robe draped across her groin and legs leans against the man’s club with her left hand. She wears a lion-skin headdress. Several standing figures look on in the background. Three small childlike figures of erotes are also at play. One blows pipes into the younger man’s left ear; one peeps out from under the robes of the elderly man; and a third attempts to set the wine cup aright.

Hercules and Omphale

Medium:
Fresco
Dimensions:
162.6 cm wide, 203.2 cm high
Context:
House of Marcus Lucretius, triclinium 16, east wall, central section, Pompeii
Date:
1st century CE
Inventory Number:
MANN 8992
Lender:
National Archaeological Museum of Naples
Credit:
Image © Photographic Archive, National Archaeological Museum of Naples