Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Philip Melville Courtney
Hercules at Rest Large En Grisaille Oil Painting by Philip Melville Courtney

2025

$16,500
£12,530.34
€14,395
CA$23,261.11
A$24,731.37
CHF 13,373.98
MX$294,187.14
NOK 167,528.06
SEK 153,002.96
DKK 107,535.62

About the Item

Hercules at Rest — En Grisaille Oil on Canvas By American artist Philip Melville Courtney This commanding large-scale en grisaille painting presents a refined academic study of Hercules at Rest, after the celebrated marble sculpture known as the Farnese Hercules. Courtney’s work channels the rigor and restraint of 18th-century academic practice while asserting a distinctly contemporary authority through scale, surface, and compositional clarity. The subject derives from the Roman marble copy of a Greek original attributed to Glykon of Athens, dating to the early third century AD and discovered in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1546. Hercules is shown in a moment of profound repose—his colossal strength momentarily stilled—leaning upon his club, draped with the skin of the Nemean lion, following the completion of his labors. It is not triumph that dominates the image, but gravity, reflection, and earned exhaustion. Rendered entirely in a restrained tonal palette, Courtney’s en grisaille technique heightens the sculptural illusion. Subtle modulations of greige, warm stone, and silvery shadow create exquisite modeling across the muscular back, shoulders, and legs, allowing light to articulate form with remarkable precision. The anatomy is powerful yet controlled, masculine yet noble—imbued with a regal stillness that recalls the finest academic studies of antiquity. The composition invites quiet contemplation, capturing Hercules not as an instrument of force, but as a thinking, burdened hero. Courtney’s approach evokes the tradition of grand academic studies made by artists such as François-Guillaume Ménageot, whose late-18th-century interpretations of classical sculpture sought to merge archaeological fidelity with emotional intelligence. Here, that lineage is honored and extended: the painting bridges classical refinement and modern sensibility, transforming a canonical sculpture into a timeless, painterly meditation on strength and introspection. Ideal as a focal point in a minimalist, modern, or classically informed interior, this work offers collectors a rare synthesis of intellectual depth, technical mastery, and enduring beauty. Monumental in presence and quietly authoritative, Hercules at Rest stands as a powerful testament to Philip Melville Courtney’s command of the human figure and his ability to reanimate the ancient world for contemporary collectors and designers. Large en grisaille oil on canvas. Museum-quality workmanship. Ready to place.
  • Creator:
    Philip Melville Courtney (1962, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2025
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 38 in (96.52 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Palm Beach, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2927217515662

More From This Seller

View All
Wounded Achilles En Grisaille Oil on Canvas Painting by Philip Melville Courtney
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Classical Male Nude Painting, After the Antique — Inspired by Wounded Achilles Oil on Canvas, Contemporary This exceptional en grisaille oil on canvas figurative painting is inspired...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Male Nude with Plinth — Large En Grisaille Oil on Canvas of Gesture Sketch 40x54
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Standing Male Nude with Implied Plinth — En Grisaille Oil By Philip Melville Courtney This commanding large-scale en grisaille oil on canvas by American painter and technical master ...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Neptune and Triton En Grisaille Oil Painting by Philip Melville Courtney
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
This en grisaille oil on canvas by American artist Philip Melville Courtney presents a masterful reinterpretation of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s celebrated marble Neptune and Triton (1622...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Roman Warrior Large En Grisaille Oil on Canvas by Philip Melville Courtney
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Large En Grisaille Oil on Canvas by Philip Melville Courtney After Gregorio di Lorenzo — Profile of a Classical Warrior This commanding large-scale oil on canvas by American artist P...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Pegasus and Bellerophon Large Oil Painting on Canvas by Philip Melville Courtney
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Pegasus and Bellerophon — En Grisaille Oil on Canvas, after a 16th-Century Italian Relief This large-scale oil on canvas painting by acclaimed American artist Philip Melville Courtn...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Venus and the Sea Monster Large Mythological Oil on Canvas Female Nude
By Philip Melville Courtney
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Venus and the Sea Monster Large Mythological Oil on Canvas — Sculpture Rendered in Painting By American Artist Philip Melville Courtney This large-scale oil on canvas painting presen...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

"Reclining Man" (2015) By John Tarantola, Surrealist Nude Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
John Tarantola's original nude portrait "Reclining Man" (2015) is a beautiful surrealist oil on panel painting that depicts a young man lying in the nude, against a surreal scene of ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Reclining Male Nude Figurative Queer Oil Painting
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Contemporary painting of a nude man reclining by Mark Beard. Double-sided oil on panel Signed in red, u.r. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in...
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Oil

Resting Spearman, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Derek Overfield
Located in Yardley, PA
Title: "Resting Spearman" Artist: Derek Overfield A resting spearman, javelin hanging loosely at his side, gazes away from the viewer. The tension of his occupation evident in hi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Sleeping Man, Nude Male Figure Curled on the Floor, Charcoal Drawing
By Shuta Ruelas
Located in Chicago, IL
This male nude charcoal drawing is beautifully rendered in splendid detail, down to the individual hairs on his legs. The viewer begs the question of why the subject is here. We are not given answers yet perhaps something lies just beyond the edge of the frame where an unexplained light source illuminates the subject's feet. This large scale drawing...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

MB 053 (Figurative Charcoal Drawing of a Muscular Male Nude on Arches Paper)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative male nude drawing made of graphite, charcoal, and conte crayon on Arches paper 30 x 20 inches, unframed This unique life study drawing of a standing male nude was made...
Category

2010s Modern Nude Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Crayon, Graphite

Sogno D Oro - Seated Muscular Male Wearing a Loin Cloth, Original Oil on Canvas
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
A muscular male is seated on a chair, his eyes closed and head tilted toward the sky soaking up the warmth of the sun. "Sogni D'Oro", meaning sweet dreams, is set upon an intricate b...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel