''The Origin of the Milky Way'' is a painting by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

master

Jacopo Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

, in the National Gallery, London, formerly in the

Orleans Collection The Orleans Collection was a very important collection of over 500 paintings formed by Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, mostly acquired between about 1700 and his death in 1723. Apart from the great royal-become-national collections of Euro ...

. It is an oil painting on canvas, and dates from ca.1575–1580. According to myth, the infant

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

was brought to Hera by his half-sister

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

, who later played an important role as a goddess of protection. Hera nursed Heracles out of

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to ''compassion'', '' condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of ''piety''). Self-pity is 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 The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

. With divine milk, Heracles acquired supernatural powers.

External links

High definition image on Google art

Smarthistory Smarthistory is a free resource for the study of art history created by art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Smarthistory is an independent not-for-profit organization and the official partner to Khan Academy for art history. Smarthisto ...

, video (5:19)
_The_Origin_of_the_Milky_Way_(podcast_with_transcript:_Miranda_Hinkley_&_Karly_Allen,_National_Gallery
_London_February_2009).html" ;"title="National Gallery"> 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 {{16C-painting-stub

See also

External links