The reputation and fame of Carlo Cesi resulted from his vast production of prints, almost all of them after paintings and fresco cycles. This one relates directly to the scene of Hercules Driving Out the Harpies by the celebrated artist Pietro da Cortona. Situated in the main hall of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, the mythological representation stands in for the triumph of Pope Urban VIII’s Justice. Although harpies are usually represented in art as foul and loathsome creatures in the shape of bird-women, in this image they are portrayed as winged feline-like animals with human heads.
