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Lot Essay
Turchi was a pupil of the important Veronese artist, Felice Brusasorci, in whose studio he is recorded as working in 1597. From him he absorbed the Veronese interpretation of Venetian Renaissance painting, and in particular that of Tintoretto. This had a profound influence on Turchi and is reflected in his densely figured compositions. After the death of his master in 1605, he probably went to Venice together with his fellow pupil Marcantonio Bassetti, where he studied the work of Paolo Veronese. In circa 1614 he moved with Bassetti and Pasquale Ottino to Rome.
On arrival in Rome, Turchi soon came under the influence of Caravaggio. The strong chiaroscuro and the tremendous agitation of the figures in Caravaggio's compositions, for example in his Martyrdom of Saint Matthew in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, had a great impact on Turchi's style. This is well demonstrated in the present Hercules slaying the Children of Megara. On the other hand, Hercules and Omphale reflects the more restrained, classicist current of Roman Baroque painting, especially the work of Domenichino. Turchi settled in Rome, where he established a prominent career, culminating in 1637 in his election as Principe of the Accademia di San Luca.
This pair of pictures are smaller versions of the pictures of the same subject by Turchi, traditionally dated circa 1620, in the Alte
Pinakothek, Munich. Traditionally the Hercules slaying the children of Megara has been catalogued as The Massacre of the Innocents, but in fact the two paintings are better understood as scenes from the life of Hercules. Two preliminary drawings for the compositions exist: that for Hercules and Omphale is in the König-Fachsenfeld Collection, Stuttgart, and that for Hercules slaying the Children of Megara was formerly with B. Lenz, Prague (E. Schleier, op. cit., pls. 20 and 21). The drawing of Hercules and Omphale is different in the arrangement of the principal figures of the painting, with an emphasis on the Lydian Queen Omphale seated in the centre, wearing Hercules' lion's pelt and jeering at Hercules spinning thread as a punishment for killing Iphitos. The drawing of Hercules slaying the Children of Megara is much closer to the painting, though the latter gives greater dramatic emphasis to the child about to be murdered by his father Hercules, who in a fit of madness sent by Hera, destroyed his wife Megara and their sons.
Although sources disagree on the precise details of the subject of Hercules slaying the children of Megara, the older version has it that Hercules threw his victims onto a pyre, as is represented in the present painting. It was as a punishment for these murders that Hercules had to serve Eurystheus, King of Tiryns for twelve years, during which he performed his Twelve Labours.
On arrival in Rome, Turchi soon came under the influence of Caravaggio. The strong chiaroscuro and the tremendous agitation of the figures in Caravaggio's compositions, for example in his Martyrdom of Saint Matthew in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, had a great impact on Turchi's style. This is well demonstrated in the present Hercules slaying the Children of Megara. On the other hand, Hercules and Omphale reflects the more restrained, classicist current of Roman Baroque painting, especially the work of Domenichino. Turchi settled in Rome, where he established a prominent career, culminating in 1637 in his election as Principe of the Accademia di San Luca.
This pair of pictures are smaller versions of the pictures of the same subject by Turchi, traditionally dated circa 1620, in the Alte
Pinakothek, Munich. Traditionally the Hercules slaying the children of Megara has been catalogued as The Massacre of the Innocents, but in fact the two paintings are better understood as scenes from the life of Hercules. Two preliminary drawings for the compositions exist: that for Hercules and Omphale is in the König-Fachsenfeld Collection, Stuttgart, and that for Hercules slaying the Children of Megara was formerly with B. Lenz, Prague (E. Schleier, op. cit., pls. 20 and 21). The drawing of Hercules and Omphale is different in the arrangement of the principal figures of the painting, with an emphasis on the Lydian Queen Omphale seated in the centre, wearing Hercules' lion's pelt and jeering at Hercules spinning thread as a punishment for killing Iphitos. The drawing of Hercules slaying the Children of Megara is much closer to the painting, though the latter gives greater dramatic emphasis to the child about to be murdered by his father Hercules, who in a fit of madness sent by Hera, destroyed his wife Megara and their sons.
Although sources disagree on the precise details of the subject of Hercules slaying the children of Megara, the older version has it that Hercules threw his victims onto a pyre, as is represented in the present painting. It was as a punishment for these murders that Hercules had to serve Eurystheus, King of Tiryns for twelve years, during which he performed his Twelve Labours.