{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum purchase, Surdna Fund","caption":"Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom), The Infant Hercules, ca. 1785–89. Oil on millboard; 25.5 × 21 cm, 35 × 30.5 cm (frame). Museum purchase, Surdna Fund (2014-52)","cultureterms":[{"id":2031586,"culture":"British"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","campus_art":false,"terms":[{"id":2096051,"term":"mythology","aatid":300055985,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2052977,"term":"paintings","aatid":300033618,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2158076,"term":"snakes","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2031586,"term":"British","aatid":300111159,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2088162,"term":"infants","aatid":300189561,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053145,"term":"oil paintings","aatid":300033799,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2053153,"term":"oil sketches","aatid":300033690,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2167780,"term":"oil paint","aatid":300015050,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044036,"term":"millboard","aatid":300014233,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"frame","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"35.00"},{"element":"frame","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"30.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"25.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"21.00"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"2014-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":3224,"displayname":"Sir Joshua Reynolds","displaydate":"1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom","datebegin":1723,"dateend":1792,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1787,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Paintings","packages":[{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":31169,"name":"web_2014_K6_children"},{"packageid":276252,"name":"Nazi Era Sept 2025 list for web"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":210962,"name":"Z_JS European On View 10 years"},{"packageid":182999,"name":"image_descriptions_eps_painitings"},{"packageid":246533,"name":"EPS Provenance Nazi-era gaps"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2053145,"classification":"oil paintings"},{"id":2053153,"classification":"oil sketches"},{"id":2052977,"classification":"paintings"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75013"],"displaytitle":"The Infant Hercules","displayculture":null,"displaymaker":"Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom","alt_numbers":[],"captionhtml":"Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792; born Plympton, United Kingdom; died London, United Kingdom), <i>The Infant Hercules</i>, ca. 1785–89. Oil on millboard; 25.5 × 21 cm, 35 × 30.5 cm (frame). Museum purchase, Surdna Fund (2014-52)","displaydate":"ca. 1785–89","medium":"Oil on millboard","media":[{"id":158162,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV75013","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"David Mannings and Martin Postle, <EM>Sir Joshua Reynolds: a complete catalogue of his paintings</EM>, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000). ","citation":"David Mannings and Martin Postle, <EM>Sir Joshua Reynolds: a complete catalogue of his paintings</EM>, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000). , Vol. 1: p. 541, no. 2096;\r\nVol. 2: p. 602, fig. 1647.","date":2000,"id":5253,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/45328809"},{"boilertext":"<i>Old master &amp; British drawings: auction in London, 9 July 2014, sale L14040, 10.30 am</i>, (London: Sotheby's, 2014).","citation":"<i>Old master &amp; British drawings: auction in London, 9 July 2014, sale L14040, 10.30 am</i>, (London: Sotheby's, 2014).","date":2014,"id":5254,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/903130194"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2014\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>74 (2015): p.&nbsp;55-77.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2014\", <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>74 (2015): p.&nbsp;55-77., p. 66","date":2016,"id":5958,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/26388766?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"European Painting and Sculpture ","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199321,"term":"European Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199338,"term":"Nazi-era gaps","termtype":"Provenance & Cultural Heritage"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1700-1800","dateend":1789,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"The Infant Hercules","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"2014-52","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"Sotheby's, London, November 10, 1993, lot 184. Sotheby's, London, Old Master &amp; British Drawings, July 9, 2014, lot 184; sold to Princeton University Art Museum.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"<p>\n\tCelebrated for his society portraits, Reynolds also aspired to be recognized as a history painter. This is an oil sketch for a large work that was commissioned by the Russian Empress Catherine II, who left the subject to Reynolds’s discretion. He chose the legend of the Greek god Hercules’s precocious strength: When attacked by venomous snakes sent by his father  Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera, Hercules strangled them. Reynolds displayed the finished canvas at the Royal Academy in London in 1788 before sending it to the Imperial Court. He intended the subject to allude to the valor of the young Russian Empire.\n</p>","remarks":"European Pavilion Rotation July 2026 "}],"datebegin":1785,"sortnumber":"2014   52","published_date":"2026-08-12 02:00:40.617706","objectid":103453,"dimensions":"25.5 × 21 cm (10 1/16 × 8 1/4 in.)\r\nframe: 35 × 30.5 cm (13 3/4 × 12 in.)","on_view":true}