Peter Paul Rubens created ‘Prometheus Bound’ (1611 to 1618), oil on canvas 242.6 x 209.5 cm, as a young man when he returned to the Netherlands after studying in Italy. The sources of his Italian studies are visible here: antiquity, Michelangelo and Titian, which Rubens combined into his own uniquely forceful style.

In this painting, the chained Prometheus is being punished for stealing fire from the gods to give it to the humans who needed it for warmth and light.

The ferocious eagle tears out his liver only to have it grow back again and again because Prometheus is immortal.

The writhing giant is dramatically portrayed amidst the forces of darkness with the sharp talons of the eagle painfully clutching the face and the groin of the struggling man. It was Frans Snyders, an expert painter of animals, who was employed by Rubens to paint the ravenous eagle.

The painting is currently held with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA.