The Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus

In 1588 Goltzius made several iconic prints that pushed beyond the elegant Mannerism of Bartholomeus Spranger to a more exaggerated muscular style. Perhaps the most dramatic is this horrifying portrayal of The Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus, after a painting by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem in the National Gallery, London (accession no. NG1893).

The subject is taken from Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The engraving illustrates two scenes from the story of Cadmus, the prince of Tyre, whose sister Europa was abducted by Zeus. While searching for her, Cadmus sent his companions to find a spring so he could offer a sacrifice to Zeus; however, it was guarded by a fierce dragon. The dragon immediately killed Cadmus’s soldiers and when the prince discovered their bodies, he vowed to avenge them.

In the foreground we are confronted with the intertwined nude bodies of two ofsoldiers. rs . The dragon has seized the head of one in his teeth while at the same time pinning down the second by clutching his thigh and torso with his claws. Blood drips from the mens’ wounds. Two apparently freshly decapitated heads, as well as some bones litter the ground beneath the struggling figures. The heavily muscled bodies and dramatic poses recall Goltzius’s engravings of the Four Disgracers (accession no. 53.601., 4, 5(3,4,5 and 65), also after designs by Cornelis van Haarlem and from the same year.

In the background to the right, Cadmus is shown enacting his revenge and fighting the dragon. He has seized the advantage and thrust his spear down the creature’s throat.

Goltzius intended to publish a series of 300 prints illustrating all fifteen books of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the end, only 52 were engraved after his drawings. The Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus is larger in scale than the prints from the series and is meant to stand on its own as a tour de force of Goltzius’s engraving style.