Hercules oil on canvas 137 x 112 cm The painting is distinguished by an energetic pictorial rendering and a formal approach that allows it to be placed within the workshop of Guercino, known for the dissemination, through numerous replicas and variants, of the half-figure Hercules theme. This subject recurs in several works created by the master during the 1640-1650 decade, declined in different versions in terms of posture, gestures and spatial construction. Among the possible comparisons, the most convincing is that with the Hercules now in the Galleria Nazionale in Parma, formerly in the Sanvitale collection, which presents a composition similar in cut and iconography. However, the work under examination here is less well defined in its anatomical modelling - particularly in the outstretched arms - while it stands out for the expressive rendering of the face, treated with a pictorial quality that suggests a possible involvement of the master himself, although it is probably part of a collaborative context within his workshop.Within 18th century gilded wooden frame.Reference bibliography:Luigi Salerno, I dipinti del Guercino, Roma, Ugo Bozzi Editore, 1988, p. 404.Nicholas Turner, The Paintings of Guercino. A Revised and Expanded Catalogue Raisonné, Rome, Silvana Editoriale, 2017, pp. 571 (no. 281), 605 (no. 316).