Jupiter defeating the giants with the help of Hercules and Minerva

Francisco Bayeu was a prominent 18th-century Spanish painter, court painter to Charles III, as well as Goya’s teacher and brother-in-law. This is the final sketch for the ceiling fresco in the first antechamber of the Princes’ Room at the Royal Palace in Madrid, now the daily dining room.

In it, we can see the iconographic modifications the artist made for the final work, which still reflects the Rococo style. Bayeu drew inspiration from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to create this pyramidal composition, with Jupiter at the apex hurling his thunderbolt at the rebellious Titans. Below, Hercules, with his club, and Minerva, with her shield and spear, assist him. The Titan Typhon, instigator of the rebellion, is struck down by the lightning bolt and plunges, in a dramatic foreshortened view, from Mount Etna. This sketch exemplifies Bayeu’s methodical approach to preparing large-scale mural compositions.