Painting depicting the god Hercules confronting the Hydra, a mythical creature. Amidst towering, rocky cliffs, Hercules stands on the left of the painting, dressed in clothing that exposes his figure.

Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra

Gustave Moreau (French, 1826–1898)

Date: 1875–76
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 70½ × 60¾ in (179.3 × 154 cm)
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago, accession 1964.231. See the museum’s record
Credit: Gift of Mrs. Eugene A. Davidson

Public domain image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago (CC0).

Palette

Closest wall colors:

Hang it

Pick the furniture and a print size to see it to scale on your wall.

Where Print size

Print: 18 × 21 in, the whole painting on 18 × 24 in paper
Center: 58 in (147 cm) above the stair line

18 × 21 in portrait print (46 × 53 cm), centered 58 in above the stair line. Drawn to scale on a 12 × 8 ft wall.

Try it on your wall color

Default greige

Print it

No standard paper matches this painting’s proportions closely, so print it whole with a white border, or trim the edges to fill the paper.

Paper	Filling the paper	Printed whole	Frame	Frame with a 2 in mat	Frame with a 3 in mat	Sharpness
8 × 10 in	trims 6.9 %	8 × 9¼ in	8 × 10 in ready-made	12 × 14 in custom	14 × 16 in custom	215 dpi, crisp from a step back
11 × 14 in	trims 8.5 %	11 × 12¾ in	11 × 14 in ready-made	15 × 18 in custom	17 × 20 in custom	156 dpi, crisp from a step back
12 × 16 in	trims 12.7 %	12 × 14 in	12 × 16 in ready-made	16 × 20 in ready-made	18 × 22 in custom	142 dpi, soft up close
16 × 20 in	trims 6.9 %	16 × 18½ in	16 × 20 in ready-made	20 × 24 in ready-made	22 × 26 in custom	107 dpi, soft up close
18 × 24 in	trims 12.7 %	18 × 21 in	18 × 24 in ready-made	22 × 28 in ready-made	24 × 30 in ready-made	95 dpi, soft up close
30 × 40 in	trims 12.7 %	30 × 35 in	30 × 40 in ready-made	34 × 44 in custom	36 × 46 in custom	57 dpi, soft up close

Sharpness is worked out from the largest file the museum offers. Above 300 dpi a print holds up at arm’s length; 150 dpi is plenty for a picture seen from across a sofa.

Download

Free for any use, including commercial: this image is public domain (CC0).

Thumbnail (WebP) 485 × 560 px from Room Paintings
Web image 843 × 973 px from Art Institute of Chicago
Print file 1,732 × 2,000 px from Art Institute of Chicago
The museum’s record of this painting Art Institute of Chicago

Public domain image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago (CC0). You may print, share, change and sell it without asking. Read what that means on our image license page, and how to get a good result in how to print a public-domain painting.