Walter Crane, Prince Cheri (detail)
    The RA Collection in 250 objects:

    Mythical monsters

    10 artworks

    To celebrate our 250th birthday this year, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection across 25 themes. In this edition, we’re looking at the fearsome mythical beasts lurking in the shadows of our archives, from the colossal serpents of Norse legend to hideous hydras from Greek myth.

    See all the works in the 250 Objects series.

    Henry Fuseli RA, Thor battering the Midgard Serpent

    Henry Fuseli RA

    Thor battering the Midgard Serpent , 1790

    The Midgard Serpent, so large it can encircle the world, rises from the surface of a raging sea to seize the ox’s head being used as bait by the Norse god, Thor. This dramatic painting takes its subject from the Icelandic 'Edda' sagas. They became popular in Britain after their 1770 publication in 'Northern Antiquities', the first comprehensive English translation of Norse myths and legends.
    Chris Orr RA, The Life of W. Blake 'The Six Foot Serpent'

    Chris Orr RA

    The Life of W. Blake 'The Six Foot Serpent' , 1992

    Another serpent is on the attack in this monoprint by contemporary Royal Academician Chris Orr, part of his series of works responding to the life and work of William Blake. It shows a scene taken from Dante’s 'Divine Comedy', in which the thief Agnolo Brunelleschi is condemned to be consumed by a six-foot snake for all eternity.
    William Daniell RA, 'The Syren'

    William Daniell RA

    'The Syren'

    In Greek mythology, sirens were part-woman, part-bird creatures whose beautiful singing lured sailors to their doom on treacherous rocks. This grinning monster with the head of a monkey and two serpents for legs, comically unlike most depictions of sirens, is one of many fabulous creatures in an album of drawings by William Daniell and George Dance.
    , Cast of Laocoön and his Sons (Roman version of a lost Greek original)

    Cast of Laocoön and his Sons (Roman version of a lost Greek original) , c.100BC-50AD

    This dynamic sculpture shows the Trojan priest Laocöon and his two sons struggling with two serpents overpowering them. According to mythology, the serpents were sent by Greek gods Poseidon and Athena, who were infuriated when Laocöon warned his fellow Trojans against taking in the wooden horse left outside the city walls by the Greeks.
    Walter Crane, Prince Cheri and the Dragon

    Walter Crane

    Prince Cheri and the Dragon

    In the French story Princess Belle-Etoile, Prince Cheri outwits the dragon guarding a tree of singing apples by frightening it with its own reflection. This particular depiction by Walter Crane, an early champion of illustration, is taken from an 1884 collection of fairytales entitled 'Aladdin’s Picture Book'.
    John Flaxman RA, Scylla

    John Flaxman RA

    Scylla , 1792 - 93

    Homer’s 'Odyssey' tells of two female monsters named Scylla and Charybdis, who guard both sides of a narrow channel of water, leaving just one tiny gap which Odysseus is able to sneak through. This drawing was made by John Flaxman in preparation for a series of engravings illustrating the 'Odyssey', also in the RA Collection.
    Sir Christopher Le Brun PPRA, Fafner, LXII

    Sir Christopher Le Brun PPRA

    Fafner, LXII

    In Norse mythology, the dwarf prince Fafnir is turned into a dragon by a cursed ring. He appears as Fafner, originally a giant, in Richard Wagner’s opera cycle 'The Ring of the Nibelung', which was the inspiration for this print by current President of the Royal Academy, Christopher Le Brun.
    Forum of Trajan, Rome, Cast of section of frieze with vase, griffin, and candelabrum

    Forum of Trajan, Rome

    Cast of section of frieze with vase, griffin, and candelabrum , Late 18th century/early 19th century

    A combination of lion and eagle, the griffin was seen as a symbol of strength and power and so often depicted protecting precious possessions. In this cast, reproducing part of the Forum of Trajan in Rome, a griffin guards a valuable vase and candelabra.
    45722

    This etching shows the venerated Saint George, patron saint of England (and Romania and Malta, to name just a few), slaying the dastardly dragon. Its composition may have been influenced by Raphael’s 'Expulsion of Heliodorus' in the Vatican palace, which was painted around the same time the print was made.
    George Michael Moser RA, Hercules and the Hydra

    George Michael Moser RA

    Hercules and the Hydra , 18th century

    The hydra is a terrifying many-headed beast – cut off one of its heads, and two more grow back in its place. Hercules was sent to slay the hydra of Lernaea as one of the twelve labours he carried out as penance for killing his wife and children. This painting, by founding Royal Academician George Michael Moser, is a copy in reverse of a painting by Guido Reni, now in the Louvre.

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