FRENCH SCHOOL circa 1680: Portrait of a man (with... Lot 472

FRENCH SCHOOL circa 1680: Portrait of a man (with Hercules fighting the bull of Crete). Oil on canvas. Height : 55 cm. Width : 73.5 cm. Inscribed and dated on the right "QUIS FACTA HERCVLEAE / NON AVDIT FORTIA / CLAUAE ... / 1680" (Who has not heard of Hercules and the exploits of his club, arrows always safe). The verses accompanying Hercules indicate the military greatness of the model, most probably named Alcide. They are taken from Propertius' "Elegies". The full quotation is as follows: Propertius, Elegies 4, 9: "ille ego sum: Alciden terra recepta uocat. Quis facta Herculeae non audit fortia clauae et numquam ad uastas irrita tela feras, atque uni Stygias homini luxisse tenebras? "It's me: the land I took back from the monsters calls me Alcide. Who has not heard of Hercules and the exploits of his club, of the arrows he always shot at the great beasts, of the only man for whom the darkness of the Styx was his? Expert : Cabinet TURQUIN.