''Hera'' or ''Hera Hiding During the Battle Between the Gods and the Giants'' is a c. 1643 oil on canvas painting by

Carel Fabritius Carel Pietersz. Fabritius (; bapt. 27 February 1622 – 12 October 1654) was a Dutch painter. He was a pupil of Rembrandt and worked in his studio in Amsterdam. Fabritius, who was a member of the Delft School, developed his own artistic style ...

, produced during his apprenticeship in

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

's studio or shortly afterwards. It is now in the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Title

Its present title was given in a 2004 catalogue of the Museum's collections due to the presence of peacocks, which are associated with Hera. The longer version of the title refers to her being sent to the home of

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

and Tethys by her mother Rhea during the

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; ) was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Twelve Olympians, Olympians (the younger generati ...

. However, it is unclear if this interpretation is correct, as it does not explain why she is interrupted while combing her hair or why she does not appear to be near the ocean. In 1883, the painting was thought to depict Narcissus, but this interpretation also falls short, as it does not account for the presence of the peacocks, the running quadruped, or why the figure looks up from the water rather than gazes at their reflection.

Bibliography

* Duparc, F.J., 2004, Carel Fabritius (1622-1654). Zijn leven en zijn werk, in: ''Carel Fabritius, 1622-1654'', Zwolle, Waanders, p. 33-34 * Seelig, G. & Suchtelen, A. van, 2004, Catalogus, in: ''Carel Fabritius, 1622-1654'', Zwolle, Waanders, p. 91-94 (cat. 3) * Duparc, F.J., 2006, "Results of the Recent Art-Historical and Technical Research on Carel Fabritius's Early Work", ''Oud Holland'' 119 (2006), p. 76-89 1643 paintings Paintings by Carel Fabritius Paintings in the Pushkin Museum Paintings of Hera {{1640s-painting-stub