Hercules's feats. The Nemean lion

A young boy stands barefoot on a boulder, gripping a large tabby cat that hangs draped over his shoulders like a hunter's trophy, one paw held in each of his hands. He wears a loose grey T-shirt and rolled red trousers, his weight braced against jagged rock as smoke-blue mountain ridges recede behind him.

Warm amber and orange light spreads across the horizon, its glow catching the rocks and the animal's fur while the boy's face stays half in shadow. Thick, textured brushwork builds the rock and sky, contrasting with more smoothly modeled skin and drapery. The staging - a modern child cast as a mythic hero returning from his conquest - gives the everyday scene a theatrical, storybook charge.