\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 The scene of the struggle between Hercules and Cacus, one of the twelve labors of Hercules, is set by Domenichino in an open and majes
tic sweep of nature. This was in line with a practice common among the painters of the Bolognese school, who liked to present religious, mythological and allegorical subjects against the backdrop of a broad stretch of landscape.\par