Hercules Slaying the Hydra

This Baroque drawing was possibly inspired by the painting of the same subject by Guido Reni (Musée du Louvre). It was dated by establishing a link with Le Triomphe de Claudius Metellus [The Triumph of Claudius Metellus] (Musée Atger), a drawing signed in the same way and dated 1770. The free technique of the wash emphasised by the tension in the pen and ink work helps the dynamism of a painting that is almost Romantic in its expression.