Brown ink and wash drawing of a nude bearded man twisting upward, holding a forked staff, with his foot on a snarling multi-headed dog below.

Pluto and Cerberus

A nude, muscular bearded man twists upward within a tall, narrow composition, gripping a forked staff at the upper left while his foot rests on a snarling dog below. The brown ink and wash drawing shows the dog's heads with bared teeth, while the figure's torso and limbs are rendered in soft modeled shading.

Artist: Maarten van Heemskerck
Date: 1555
Medium
Source: Rijksmuseum
Size: 1223 × 4000 px

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Public domain · Rijksmuseum marks it Public Domain Mark; made by 1555.
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: Public Domain Mark (Rijksmuseum, image license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Greek and Roman Myths 16th century 1550s 1555 mythology dog renaissance drawing nude male figure brown ink wash underworld trident cerberus maarten van heemskerck pluto

Pluto and Cerberus

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