Tags: Artwork.
The Origin of the Milky Way or The Birth of the Milky Way is a painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens featuring the Greco-Roman myth of the origin of the Milky Way. The painting depicts Hera (Juno) spilling her breast milk the infant Heracles (Hercules) and Zeus (Jupiter) in the background identifiable by his eagle and lightening bolts. Hera’s face is modelled on Rubens’ wife Hélène Fourment. The carriage is pulled by Hera’s favourite animals peacocks.
