Hercules stole Apollo’s sacred tripod in Delphi. As a punishment he was made a slave to the Lydian queen Omphale and had to wear women’s clothing and spin. Clad in the hero’s lion skin and leaning on his club, Omphale mocks Hercules, who is holding a distaff and a spindle, in front of her companions. Turchi created his figurative composition in the classical manner but, like the Caravaggisti, staged the scene in bright light against a dark background.