Édouard Joseph Dantan

(French, 1848-1897)

Hercule aux pieds d'Omphale

Footnotes

Provenance
The Royal Manchester Institution (acquired from The Paris Salon).
Sidebottom Collection, Manchester (prominent industrialists and cotton mill owners).
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited
Paris, Salon, 1874.

The present lot is an impressive depiction of Hercules and Omphale, the Queen of Lydia. Hercules entered the service of Omphale in pennance for the murder of Iphitus. According to the myth, despite his invincible strength and his status as the son of Zeus, Hercules agreed to any task the Queen desired. In the present lot Hercules is sitting at the feet of Omphale, spinning wool. She reclines majestically, wearing the hero's lion skin as a head piece, in a position of power.

The model for Omphale was Dantan's partner at the time, Agostina Segatori, who was celebrated for her beauty by other 19th century artists such as Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, Eugène Delacroix and Jean Léon Gérôme. She was also the proprietress of Café Tambourin and had a stormy relationship with Vincent van Gogh.

The present lot was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1874 and according to Dantan's own account books, purchased by a Mr. Hattson – a member of the Royal Manchester Institution - for 3000 francs. Dantan is possibly referring to a Mr. James Hutton who was on the hanging committee of the Royal Manchester Institution in 1874.