John Singer Sargent - Atlas and the Hesperides, 1922. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Atlass job was to hold up the earth. He also owned the pillars that kept the earth and sky apart (which we see in the background). Atlas was the father of the Hesperides -- the nymphs of sleep, and who (when they werent sleeping) were supposed to guard the Hesperides garden which contained a tree that produced golden apples. The tree had been given to Hera when she married Zeus as a wedding gift by the goddess Gaia (goddess of Mother Earth). The Hesperides garden was located next to where Apollo lived (the god of the sun) which we are seeing in the distance. To steal the golden apples would be Hercules eleventh labor
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 17:16:53 +0000
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