Vladimir Putin Depicted as Greek Hero Hercules in Moscow Art Exhibition

A painting exhibition held at a small gallery in Moscow Mondaydepicted Russian President Vladimir Putin as the mythical Greek hero, Hercules.

The exhibition, opened for just one night in honor of Putin's 62nd birthday on Tuesday, reimagined Putin's achievements as the 12 Labours of Hercules. One painting portrayed Putin strangling a bearded suicide bomber representing terrorism, likened to the slaying of the Nemean lion by Hercules.

Another exhibit showed the capture of the three-headed dog Cerberus, which symbolized Putin's  struggle with the United States and its "unipolar world".

A remarkable painting showed a muscular Putin lifting his shield against the poisonous breath of the Lernaean Hydra.  This was a comparison to the western sanctions against Russia. The U.S. head of the hydra had been cut off, signifying the ban on food imports from the U.S. and other countries that Russia adopted in August. The painting was created in the gold-on-black style of early Greek pottery decorations.

"We're forming a different image of Putin because the western media constantly criticises him, and our media occasionally attacks him as well," said Mikhail Antonov, organizer of the exhibition.

"But here we see him completing these heroic deeds. We see that the interpretation of these events is not so categorical," he said, reports The Guardian.

A political science graduate student at Moscow University, Antonov also heads a fan group of Putin on Facebook. The portraits were painted by anonymous artists who follow  the fan group, Antonov said adding that he hopes to give the Herculean portraits to Putin as a birthday gift.

Some of the other painting focused on recent events like Russia's gas contract with China and the planned purchase of Mistral warships from France. The eastern Ukraine ceasefire negotiations were also a topic of one of the paintings.

Russian annexation of Crimea is depicted as Herculean Putin capturing the Cretan bull.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was planning to visit the forests of Siberian taiga on his birthday.

Peskov said that this was the first time in more than 15 years that Putin has taken a vacation on his birthday, reports The Wall Street Journal citing state news agency TASS.

Peskov also said that Putin decided to take the vacation as he had a hectic year, working nearly round the clock on certain days.