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| attributed to Barthel Beham Hercules with a Harpy ca. 1525 engraving British Museum |
The connection between Hercules and Harpies arose in a late and indirect way. Of the twelve labors of Hercules, the sixth involved destroying or at least driving away the man-eating Stymphalian Birds from a lake in Arcadia near the town of Stymphalus. Certain later writers merged or associated the Stymphalian Birds with the even more famous Harpies, or 'snatchers' – winged women who 'personified the demonic force of storms' – best known for plaguing Jason and the Argonauts. Thus in Barthel Beham's vision (above) from around 1525, Hercules confronts a single small Harpy who floats serenely in the air above a highly domestic-looking lake in a Germanic landscape.
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| Barthel Beham Mercenary-soldiers or Landsknechte - Drummer, Standard-bearer, Piper ca. 1525 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Foot-soldier bending forward 1520 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Foot-soldier seen from behind 1520 engraving British Museum |
"Pauli listed five small engravings of soldiers by Barthel, all of which were made between 1520 and 1525. 1525 was the year in which the Peasants' Revolt was at its height and Nuremberg was within a region of severe conflicts. It has been estimated that overall some 100,000 peasants were slaughtered by the princes' mercenary troops, the 'Landsknechte'. Even in times of peace the sight of mercenary soldiers was common. They suffered from irregular income and their behavior was feared; numerous references to their ill repute appeared in the verses of the contemporary Nuremberg poet and dramatist Hans Sachs, such as his tale in which the devil himself is eventually so sickened by the outrageous activities of the 'Landsknechte' that he bans them from hell."
– curator's notes from the British Museum
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| Barthel Beham Peasant couple dancing 1524 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Halberdier on horseback 1525 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Battle with three armored horsemen ca. 1520-40 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Judith with the Head of Holofernes ca. 1520-40 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Judith with the Head of Holofernes 1523 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Judith with the Head of Holofernes 1525 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Three Women and Death ca. 1525-27 engraving British Museum |
"The appearance of Death in a wide variety of situations is one of the most common secular subjects of the visual arts of the early sixteenth century, but Barthel Beham is noted for his originality of treatment. The arrangement of figures here is based on Dürer's engraving 'Four Witches' of 1497, and the image of Death appearing to three figures of women of different ages is seen in paintings by Hans Baldung Grien and others. The unusual aspect of Barthel's interpretation is the manner in which no fear of Death is expressed by the women, but rather an acceptance and inclusion of the macabre figure within their intimate group."
– curator's notes from the British Museum, which also draw attention to 'the woman at the front resting her right foot on a skull'
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| Barthel Beham Sea God riding dolphin 1525 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Sea God riding dolphin 1525 engraving British Museum |
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| Barthel Beham Flora watering a vase of flowers from her right breast ca. 1520-40 engraving British Museum |