''The Origin of the Milky Way'' is a painting by the
Italian late
Renaissance master
Jacopo Tintoretto, in the
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
, formerly in the
Orleans Collection. It is an oil painting on canvas, and dates from ca.1575–1580.
According to myth, the infant
Heracles was brought to
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
by his half-sister
Athena, who later played an important role as a goddess of protection. Hera nursed Heracles out of
pity, but he suckled so strongly that he caused Hera pain, and she pushed him away. Her milk sprayed across the heavens and there formed the
Milky Way. With divine milk, Heracles acquired supernatural powers.
See also
*
''The Origin of the Milky Way'' (Rubens)
External links
High definition image on Google art
Smarthistory, video (5:19)
The Origin of the Milky Way (podcast with transcript: Miranda Hinkley & Karly Allen, National Gallery
London February 2009)">National Gallery"> The Origin of the Milky Way (podcast with transcript: Miranda Hinkley & Karly Allen, National Gallery
London February 2009)
1570s paintings
Paintings by Tintoretto
Collections of the National Gallery, London
Milky Way in fiction
Paintings depicting Heracles
category:Paintings of Hera
Nude art
Breastfeeding in art
Paintings of children
Birds in art
Paintings formerly in the Orleans Collection
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