When Francisco de Zurbarán received the commission for a series of paintings on the Labors of Hercules in 1634, it was not for a church or noble home, but for the grand Hall of Realms in Madrid’s Buen Retiro Palace—a royal project designed to glorify the power of the Spanish monarchy through mythic heroism. These canvases were meant to echo the might of King Philip IV, drawing a direct line between the legendary Greek hero and the king himself. Few Spanish painters before Zurbarán had tackled such grand mythological themes on this scale, marking a bold departure from his better-known religious works. In Hercules and Cerberus, Zurbarán captures the tense moment Hercules drags the monstrous, three-headed dog Cerberus from the underworld, fulfilling his twelfth and final labor.

Hercules stands in the foreground, muscles taut, gripping the iron chain that binds Cerberus—a beast whose snapping jaws and writhing bodies seem barely contained. The hero’s lion skin and club, traditional emblems of his strength, are rendered with Zurbarán’s signature attention to texture and weight. The dark, cavernous background hints at the world below, while a shaft of light falls on Hercules, isolating him in his struggle.

Unlike Rubens’ more chaotic and crowded Hercules and Cerberus, Zurbarán’s version is stark and focused, emphasizing the solitary ordeal and endurance of the hero. The painting’s journey mirrors the shifting fortunes of Spanish art. After the dispersal of the Buen Retiro Palace’s treasures, many of Zurbarán’s Labors of Hercules were moved, lost, or misattributed, but Hercules and Cerberus survived and is now held in the Museo del Prado. This series was a rare foray into mythological subjects for Zurbarán, who is best known for his intense religious scenes.

The Labors cycle stands as a testament to his versatility and the ambitions of the Spanish court in the 1630s, when myth and monarchy were woven together on the grandest canvases.