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Sir Peter Paul Rubens (artist) Flemish, 1577 - 1640 The Fall of Phaeton, c. 1604/1605, probably reworked c. 1606/1608 oil on canvas Overall: 98.4 x 131.2 cm (38 3/4 x 51 5/8 in.) framed: 125.4 x 159.4 x 5.7 cm (49 3/8 x 62 3/4 x 2 1/4 in.) Patrons' Permanent Fund 1990.1.1 |
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Helios, the Greek god who drove the chariot of the sun, had a son, Phaeton, by a human mother. With the rashness of youth, Phaeton tricked his father into letting him drive the chariot. The horses instantly bolted, scorching everything in their path with the sun's heat.
The butterfly-winged female figures are personifications of the seasons and hours. They react in terror as the earth below bursts into flame. Even the great astrological bands that arch through the heavens are disrupted.
To save the universe from destruction, Zeus, king of the gods, threw a thunderbolt, represented here by a blinding shaft of light. As the chariot disintegrates Phaeton plunges to his death.
Rubens painted The Fall of Phaeton in Rome. The powerful movement and complex poses were influenced by works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The lighting reveals Rubens' attention to Venetian artists as well. Rubens continued to work on the painting over a number of years. Very likely he found the subject—which warned of the need for personal restraint and responsibility—congenial to his own philosophical beliefs.
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