  About the Artwork
  
  
  In a fit of madness, the Olympian demi-god Hercules killed his wife and his six sons. His imposed penance involved twelve “labors” that taxed even his divine bravery and strength. As his eighth labor, Hercules was commanded to steal a ferocious herd of mares belonging to the Thracian King, Diomedes, who had raised them on a diet of human flesh. French painter Gustave Moreau portrays the culminating scene in the narrative, when Hercules lets the raging horses loose on their own master. Moreau uses strong contrasts to heighten the drama of the moment as the brilliant white and gleaming black mares tear the blood-red cloak away from Diomedes’ pallid body. Throughout his career, Moreau returned to the saga of the demi-god and his labors, often providing an unorthodox twist, as seen here in his languid depiction of Hercules, lurking half-hidden in the mid-distance shadows to watch the king’s gruesome death.
 
From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Diomedes Devoured by His Horses
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1865 and 1870
  
  Artist
  Gustave Moreau
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1826-1898
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  French
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 18 × 15 inches (45.7 × 38.1 cm)
  Framed: 27 × 24 1/16 × 2 1/2 inches (68.6 × 61.1 × 6.4 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2002.114
  
  
  Copyright
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