Luca CAMBIASO (Moneglia, 1527 - Madrid, 1585) Hercules and the Hydra of Lerna Pen and brown ink Numbered lower centre 'n°75 (Folds in the centre, lower left corner missing and missing due to iron gall ink, small tears and missing on the sides) Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, pen and brown ink, by L. Cambiaso 14.37 x 10.43 in. 36.5 x 26.5 cm Provenance: Michel Gaud Collection ; Anonymous sale; Monaco, Sotheby's, 20 June 1987, no. 85, repr. ; Thierry and Christine de Chirée Collection; Their sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Aguttes, 29-30 March 2011, no. 495, repr. In 1544, Pope Clement VII's admiral, Antonio Doria, commissioned Cambiaso, then aged 17, to paint a fresco for a palace in Genoa. One can compare our drawing with another of the same subject preparatory for the fresco. The Prado Museum, the Uffizi Museum and the Louvre Museum also hold drawings of the same Herculean cycle1. 1. Bertina Suida Manning and William Suida, Luca Cambiaso, la vita e le opere, Milan, Ceschina edition, 1958, fig.10 Luca CAMBIASO (Moneglia, 1527 - Madrid, 1585) 36.5 x 26.5 cm In 1544, the admiral of Pope Clement VII, Antonio Doria, commissioned Cambiaso, then aged 17, to paint a fresco for a palace in Genoa. One can compare our drawing with another of the same subject preparatory for the fresco. The Prado Museum, the Uffizi Museum and the Louvre Museum also hold drawings of the same Herculean cycle1. 1. Bertina Suida Manning and William Suida, Luca Cambiaso, la vita e le opere, Milan, Ceschina edition, 1958, fig.10