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Furini was much appreciated for his poetic application of Leonardo's sfumato to the representation of shapely nudes. The episode, a tragic one, is related in classical fashion: Hylas was Hercules's beloved armor-bearer on the adventure of the Golden Fleece. Attracted by his beauty, a water nymph pulled him under the waves and he was seen no more.
This work is unanimously considered by critics as a masterpiece of Furini's early maturity. His skillful composition, with its sensual weave of bodies that seem to twist rhythmically in a dance, depicts the moment in which two nymphs wind themselves around the young Hylas's neck, while the group of nymphs on the right shows expressions of disappointment. The charming nocturnal setting, under a threatening lapis-lazuli sky with skilfully created lighting effects that mould the sinuous naked bodies, all accentuate the drama of the scene.
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