Hercules at the Crossroads/ Hercule à la croisée des chemins, ca. 1560
This painting, which irresistibly evokes the art of Paolo Veronese (1528–1588), is the work of one of his compatriots, Felice Brusasorci, an artist who dominated the Veronese art scene after his illustrious elder’s departure for Venice.
The Choice of Hercules - a famous episode recounted by Xenophon - is depicted here in an original composition. Hercules is called upon to renounce earthly pleasures to ensure the immortality of his name - a subject much appreciated by Renaissance aristocratic circles. This is probably one of the artist's early works, executed during his first stay in Florence around 1560, in which he combines the chromatic refinement inspired by Veronese with Florentine Mannerist preciousness.
- Felice Brusasorci, the other great painter of Verona in the second half of the 16th century
Felice Brusasorci dominated the Veronese art scene from 1565 until the end of the 16th century, being both the most modern and the most prestigious painter in the city, but also the master of the younger generation of Veronese artists born around 1580 [1].
His precocious talent earned the young artist a mention in the 1568 edition of Vasari's Lives. In the chapter devoted to the architect Sanmicheli, he tells us that this promising young man, son of the painter Domenico Brusasorci, from whom he received his first lessons, stayed around 1560 in Florence to perfect his art, with a man named Bernardo Canigiani, a friend of his father's.
On his return to Verona in 1564, Felice Brusasorci joined the Philharmonic Academy, the city's cultural circle, which focused particularly on the practice of music. He asserted his artistic supremacy on the local scene by completing major commissions for the city's main churches, which demonstrated his adherence to the stylistic formulas of late Florentine Mannerism developed at the same time by Vasari's pupils. He returned to Florence for a second stay in 1597.
After being the master of all the Veronese artists of the next generation, Felice Brusasorci died in February 1605 in unclear circumstances, possibly because of suicide or poisoning by his wife, who then fled with a young clerk close to her husband.
2. Hercules’ Choice, an antique fable perfectly suited to the aristocratic world of the Renaissance
In his Memorabilia (II, 1, 21-34), the Greek historian Xenophon recounts the teachings of Socrates. Socrates tells an apologue, i.e. a moral fable, which he was taught by his master Prodicus of Ceos and which presents Hercules with a difficult choice: should he follow virtue or pleasure?
Prodicus recounts that Hercules, barely out of childhood, withdrew into solitude and sat uncertain about which path to choose. Two tall women appeared before him: one decent and noble, dressed in white; the other overweight and soft, her face painted. As they approached Hercules, the first woman continued walking at the same pace, while the second ran towards the young hero and said to him: "I see you, Hercules, uncertain of the path you should follow in life. If you take me as your friend, I will lead you along the most pleasant and easiest path. You will enjoy all pleasures and live free from pain. Hercules, after hearing these words, said, "Woman, what is your name?" "My friends," she replied, "call me Happiness, and my enemies, to give me a hateful name, call me Perversity."
Then the other woman stepped forward: "If you take the road that leads to me, you will one day be the illustrious author of beautiful and glorious exploits. [...] My friends enjoy food and drink with pleasure and without pretension, for they wait until they are hungry and thirsty to eat and drink. [...] When the fatal hour comes, they do not lie down in dishonorable oblivion; thereafter their memory flourishes, celebrated from age to age. This is how, Hercules, son of virtuous parents, you can acquire supreme happiness through your work."
These few excerpts allow us to understand the success of this text among the elites of the Renaissance, who found in the episode of Hercules' Choice the perfect synthesis between mythological heritage (choosing suffering and labor on earth to ensure the immortality of one's name) and Christian teaching (achieving the bliss of eternal life through a virtuous life). In the context of Christian morality, Hercules' Choice can also be analyzed as a symbol of human free will when choosing between good and evil.
This theme, whose first representations appeared in the 15th century, became a particularly popular allegory for the edification of the young elite, as evidenced by the different versions of the same theme painted by Veronese[2] . This theme was later taken up by Annibale Carracci in his famous painting for Cardinal Eduardo Farnese's camerino, now in the Capodimonte Museum.
3. Description of the painting and related artworks
Brusasorci depicts Hercules in three-quarter profile, his head turned towards the back of the painting, between Virtue on his right and Vice on his left. This representation of Hercules from behind, which leads us to identify with the character, is meant to question us about our own choices between a dissolute life and a virtuous one.
Hercules is depicted as a completely naked ephebe, carrying a lion skin [3] on his left shoulder, the lower end of which he pulls toward him with his right hand. This frieze composition, which seems to be an original invention of Brusasorci, may have been inspired by the sculpture of the three graces, a copy of which has adorned the Piccolomini Library in Siena since the Renaissance.
Hercules is staring at the winding path that leads up the mountain in the background, symbolizing the difficulties that await him on the path indicated by Virtue with her right hand. His dynamic contrapposto posture tells us that his choice has already been made and that he will direct his steps towards Virtue, who is about to crown him with the laurels she holds in her left hand.
While Virtue's striped dress—whose stripes are reminiscent of those on the dresses of 13th-century Sienese Madonnas—is a model of modesty and restrained elegance, Vice is dressed in a much more alluring outfit: her (generous) bare chest is highlighted by a clever drape adorned with precious cameos.
As often in representations of this theme, the landscape echoes the symbolism of this duality of choice. The horizon spanning behind Vice is clear (both literally and figuratively) and appears as a large flat expanse. The artist conveys the moral dilemma facing Hercules through the contrast between the dark rocky mass and this clear horizon.
Sergio Marinelli highlights in his study the profound similarity between these three characters and those who populate Felice Brusasorci's other paintings. The figure of Hercules, the main protagonist of this scene, with his muscular physique drawn in relief, is typical of Brusasorci’s style, as can be seen in other of his works that have been reliably documented, such as the Flagellation of Christ (1596) from the sanctuary of the Madonna di Campagna (Santa Maria della Pace) in Verona, and the one from San Leonardo, now in the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona (1589).
The profile of the Virtue’s face is also very characteristic of Felice's style. One can find numerous references in his work, such as in the figure on the right of the Virgin and Child accompanied by Saint Barnabas and a martyr, Saint Lucy and Saint Catherine in the church of San Pietro in Carnario in Verona.
The figure of the Vice, depicted as a young woman with bare breasts, is more inspired by Veronese's work, both in her general appearance and in the details of her adornments and clothing.[4] This same influence of Veronese can be seen in the sky in the background of the painting, characterized by its white/yellow stripes on an emerald blue sky.
4. A second version and a copy
A second version of our painting, of comparable dimensions, is kept in the Duke of Buccleuch's collection at Boughton House in England, where it is attributed to a painter belonging to Veronese's circle. While the group of three figures is identical, the landscape is radically different and takes us completely away from the Veronese-inspired atmosphere of our painting.
Professor Marinelli believes that this other version is also by Felice Brusasorci, recognizing in its landscape the influence of the Florentine painters of Francesco dei Medici's Studiolo (which was decorated around 1570). As for our painting, it was most likely painted during Felice Brusasorci's first stay in Tuscany, around 1560. This hypothesis is supported by two interesting facts: on the one hand, our painting was purchased in Florence, and on the other hand, there is an old, poor-quality copy in Siena Pinacoteca Nazionale, which was certainly made after our painting [5] .
In addition to the similarity of the landscape (which differs from that of the Buccleuch version) to that of our painting, the restoration we have carried out since acquiring our painting has revealed the second hand of Virtue, which had been hidden by an earlier restoration and now appears in the same position as in the Buccleuch version. The absence of this second hand in the Sienese copy leads us to believe that it was certainly executed after our painting, which would have remained in Tuscany since its execution by Brusasorci around 1560...
5. Framing
We chose a 17th-century Italian frame in lacquered and gilded wood, decorated with laurels and ribbons (echoing the crown that Virtue is about to place on Hercules' forehead) to frame our painting.
Main bibliographical references:
Licisco Magagnato, Felice Rizzo, detto Brusasorzi, in Cinquant'anni di pittura veronese 1580-1630, catalog of the exhibition organized by Licisco Magagnato, Verona 1974, pp. 51-78
Bottega Scuola Accademia. La pittura a Verona dal 1570 alla peste del 1630, exhibition catalog organized by Francesca Rossi and Sergio Marinelli, Verona 2018
Paolo Veronese 1528–1588, exhibition catalog organized by Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo and Miguel Falomir, Prado Museum, Madrid 2025
[1] The best known of these is Alessandro Turchi, known as L'Orbetto (Verona 1578 – Rome 1649).
[2] A painting by Veronese on this theme is kept at the Frick Collection in New York, and a painting by the artist on a similar subject (The Choice Between Vice and Virtue) is in the Prado Museum, however their respective compositions differ radically from that of Brusasorci.
[3] The lion skin, along with the club, is one of Hercules' two characteristic attributes.
[4] The cameos of Vice can thus be compared to those worn by the she-devil in Veronese's The Temptation of Saint Anthony (circa 152-1553, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen), while the green damask fabric of her dress is very similar to that of Justice in a fresco formerly at the Villa Soranzo, transferred to canvas and now presented in the church of Santa Maria Assuntata e San Liberale in Castelfranco Veneto.
[5] This copy, attributed to Francesco Montemezzano (Verona 1555–Venice after 1602), comes from the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena.