This Romanticism story came from the old Greek mythology: Hylas was the son of the King Theiodamas of Dryopians. When Heracles killed his father in battle, he spared Hylas, took him on as arms bearer, taught him the ways of a warrior, and in time the two fell in love. Heracles took Hylas with him on the Argo, making him one of the Argonauts. At Hera´s behest, Hylas was kidnapped by the nymph of the sp.ring of Pegae in Mysia and vanished without a trace (Apollonius Rhodios). Heracles was heartbroken. He alongwith Polyphemus, searched for a long time. The ship set sail without them. They never found Hylas because he had fallen in love with the nymphs and REMAINED "to share their power and their love." (Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica). The story of the rape of Hylas by water nymphs was illustrated in famous art works from antiquity to the present, under others : Roman basilica of Junius Bassus on the Esquiline Hill (4 century ); paintings by C.F.Sohn, John William Waterhouse, Henriette Rae, Francesco Furini (for images see in on-line: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Hylas.htm

Our painting was executed in the first half of 19th century and in our opinion, this fine work is a smaller author´s version of the famous painting "Rape of Hylas" by one of the most renowed German Romantics Carl Ferdinand Sohn (1805 - 1867), situated in the National Gallery in Berlin. Our attribution to the hand of this artist is not only based on the complete identity of the two paintings, but also on the quality and the time of creation. Also in the important German monography by Fr.von Boetticher "Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts"  are three  versions by the same artist with the same composition and different dimensions and materilas: one, as we pointed, situated in Berlin (canvas, dimaeter 1,53 m.); second one (cardboard) - in the Weber painting collection in Hamburg; and the third version on canvas, more larger, as in Berlin - in the collection of General of Reiche ( see  Fr.von Boetticher , p. 765 , No. 2 and 3).

Karl Ferdinand Sohn ( 1805 in Berlin - 1867 in Cologne) was a German painter of the Dusseldorf school of painting.He was born in Berlin and studied there under Wilhelm von Schadow, whom he followed to Dusseldorf. He treated principally mythical and poetic subjects of a highly romantic character, and painted in the manner of the Dusseldorf mechanically idealistic school. He visited Italy (1830-1831) and adopted ideas from the works of the Venetians: Titian, Veronese, and Palma il Vecchio. In 1832, he was made ​​professor at the Dusseldorf Academy, where he exercised in important influence. Among his best-known works are:Lute Player (1832), National Gallery, BerlinRape of Hylas (1830), National gallery, BerlinTasso and the Two Leonora (1839)Rinaldo and Armida (Dusseldorf Academy)

Literature in German: Katalog von Berlier Nationalgalerie; Thieme/Becker "Lexicon of artists from antique to contemporary" (in German), Leipzig, 1999; Friedrich von Boetticher "Malerwerke des 19 Jahrhunderts", Leipzig, 1892, No. 35, page 61; Rudolf Wiegmann "Die Königliche Kunst-Akademie zu Düsseldorf. Ihre Geschichte, Einrichtung und Wirksamkeit und die Düsseldorfer Künstler". Buddeus Verlag Düsseldorf 1856. pages 78 - 82.

Inscription: unsigned .

Technique: oil on canvas. Luxuriousy original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: visiable diameter 29 3/4" (75,5 cm) , unframed w 30 3/4" x h 30 3/4 " (78 x 78 cm), framed w 39" x h 39 " (99 x 99 cm).

Condition: in very good condition, original canvas.