The Birth of the Milky Way

For the painting by Jacopo Tintoretto, see The Origin of the Milky Way.
The Birth of the Milky Way
ArtistPeter Paul Rubens
Yearc. 1637
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions181 cm × 244 cm (71 in × 96 in)
LocationMuseo del Prado, Madrid

The Birth of the Milky Way,[1] also sometimes known as The Origin of the Milky Way,[2] is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, produced between 1636 and 1638 and featuring the Greco-Roman myth of the origin of the Milky Way. The painting depicts Hera (Juno), spilling her breast milk, the infant Heracles (Hercules) and Zeus (Jupiter) in the background, identifiable by his eagle and lightning bolts. Hera's face is modelled on Rubens' wife, Hélène Fourment.[1] The carriage is pulled by peacocks,[3] a bird which the ancient Greeks and Romans considered sacred to both themselves and to Hera/Juno, as a result of their ability to signal changes in weather through cries and hence their perceived connection to the gods.[4]

With a width of 244 cm (96 in) and height of 181 cm (71 in),[1] the image was a part of the commission from Philip IV of Spain to decorate Torre de la Parada.[5] It is now held at the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Birth of the Milky Way". Museo del Prado. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. ^ Larry Silver (2017). Rubens, Velázquez, and the King of Spain. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 9781351550383.
  3. ^ Murray Longmore; Ian Wilkinson; Ian Boden Wilkinson; Andrew Baldwin; Elizabeth Wallin (2014). Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. OUP Oxford. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-19-960962-8.
  4. ^ H. Harbaugh (1853). The Guardian. Vol. 4. p. 210.
  5. ^ Rosa López Torrijos (1998). Mythology & History in the Great Paintings. Scala Books. p. 52. ISBN 9781857592054.