Hercules Protecting the Balance Between Pleasure and Virtue is Legare’s allusion to Albrecht Dürer’s Hercules at the Crossroads (1498c.). But what Dürer implies, Ligare makes emphatic. His essential change is the picnic. He shows no food; instead, Ligare places Pleasure on a blue cloth next to a basket of apples.
The scene evokes Pleasure and love, sprawled on a cloth trying to ward off Virtue’s wrath and a heavy cudgel. As usual, Hercules’ choice is never resolved; the picnic is interrupted—and unresolved. Legare may also suggest that choosing between Pleasure and Virtue is no picnic (perhaps an intended pun). Also, Ligare does not include the figure of Pan.
The basket is filled with cherries, peaches, and grapes, which are symbols of sexuality. There is no wine.
Featured Image: David Ligare. Hercules Protecting the Balance Between Pleasure and Virtue (1993). http://www.davidligare.com/
See: Dürer’s Hercules at the Crossroads (1498c.)