Boucher: Hercules and Omphale 1735

               

               Born as a son of a minor painter in 1703, Francois Boucher would soon become a part of the French Academy in Rome in 1727. It was a few years after his graduation in 1931 that he received his first royal commission in 1735 for the royal residences at Versailles and Fontainebleau. From there he moved his way up and became the chief inspector at the Gobelins tapestry manufactory in 1755. It wasn’t until he was 62 years old that he became the First Painter to the King in 1765. (Stokstad, Cothren, and Sperling )

                Boucher’s work represents the Rocco style of painting very well. It was through the Rocco style which was oriented around pleasure, leisure, and sensuality that defined much of his work. In 1735 Boucher created a piece named, “Hercules and Omphale.” Of course this piece depicts Hercules the son of Zeus and Omphale the Powerful queen of Lydia. The story behind the painting of these two characters is that Hercules had murdered Iphicles and had stolen the Delphic oracle’s tripod and wished to make amends for what he had done. The Oracle of Apollo advised Hercules to enter the service of Omphale for 3 years. (Gill) It was through Hercules’s service to Omphale that she fell in love with him for his strength and physical beauty. What originally started as Hercules being enslaved by Omphale, soon became a relationship and they married each other, after which they had a child named Lamos.

                It is through this subject matter that Francois Boucher depicts the story of Hercules’s mistakes which end up leading him to love. The painting itself is an erotic piece, showing Omphale and Hercules in bed, with his hand grasping her breast. This type of painting fits in with the Rocco style relating pleasure and sensuality very well. This painting not only represents Francois Boucher’s style of painting but also the type of subject matter that he commonly included in his works. After browsing through his complete works I found that a number of his pieces were related to Greek mythology. He created many mythology based pieces such as “The Birth of Venus”, “The visit of Venus to Vulcan”, and “The Rape of Europa.” These works of art not only show his interest in depicting Greek mythology but also in depicting the female nude. There are numerous pieces that have been created by Boucher, estimated at over 1,000 paintings and 10,000 drawings, many of which depict a sensuous portrayal of the human body. (New World Encylopedia)

                Overall, Boucher’s “Hercules and Omphale” represents his style very well. It shows Boucher’s interest in depicting Greek mythology along with his interest in portraying the female nude. His very sensuous and elaborate style has made him “the artist most closely associated with Parisian Rocco paintings after Watteau’s death” (Stokstad, Cothren, and Sperling )

Works Cited

Gill, N.S.. "Omphale." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb 2012. <http://ancienthistory.about.com /od/herculespeople/g/Omphale.htm>.

"Boucher, Francios." New World Encyclopedia. N.p., 02 Apr 2008. Web. 29 Feb 2012. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Francois_Boucher>.

Stokstad, Marilyn, Michael W. Cothren, and Joy Sperling. Art History, Book 6, Portable Edition, Eighteenth To Twenty-First Century Art. Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.