<div class="description">
The painting by Tischbein shows the motif of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_at_the_Crossroads" class="extiw" title="en:Hercules at the Crossroads">Hercules at the Crossroads</a></i> also known as <i>The Choice of Heracles</i>. The youth Hercules is seated in the centre of the painting on a red cloth which is pulled up from the seat behind his back over his upper left arm and falls onto his left thigh, veiling his sex. To his right, a simply dressed woman strides towards Hercules from behind, extending a laurel wreath for coronation. She embodies virtue, which is rewarded with honour (laurel wreath). To the left, a second woman, richly adorned with a helmet and precious crest, strides towards Hercules. When asked what her name was, she replied, according to ancient legend, that her friends would call her Bliss, her enemies Depravity.</div>
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Johann_Heinrich_Tischbein" class="extiw" title="w:en:Johann Heinrich Tischbein"><span title="painter from Germany (1722-1789)">Johann Heinrich Tischbein</span></a>
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<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Anagoria" title="User:Anagoria">anagoria</a>