In this painting Jacques Reattu describes the moment in which Mercury is about to kill Argos, the mythological shepherd, placed by Juno to guard Io, the young woman loved by Jupiter, transformed into a heifer. The subject becomes an opportunity to represent the rotation of a virile nude, sitting on a plinth, as he observes the soporific effects of his music and brandishes his sword, ready to strike. In the sky, the parks are about to sever the thread of Argos, with a Jupiter very interested in that moment. 1824, oil on canvas, Musée Reattu, Arles.
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