The Fall of Phaeton, from Ovid's Metamorphoses
Date
1590Period
16th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
Phaeton's ride in his father Apollo's solar chariot will be a disastrous one. The horses have set the earth on fire. Riverbeds run dry and river nymphs lament their fate. Neptune with trident rises from the sea and stretches his arm to heaven. Mother Earth, depicted with city crown as Cybele, sticks her head out of the earth and protects…
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Phaeton's ride in his father Apollo's solar chariot will be a disastrous one. The horses have set the earth on fire. Riverbeds run dry and river nymphs lament their fate. Neptune with trident rises from the sea and stretches his arm to heaven. Mother Earth, depicted with city crown as Cybele, sticks her head out of the earth and protects her gaze with one hand. Atlas toils to torch the celestial vault. Jupiter throws lightning bolts and Phaeton falls from heaven with chariot and all. Below the scene, two lines of Latin text twice. This print is part of a series of 52 prints depicting stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses. This series is divided into three numbered series: two of 20 prints and one of 12 prints. This print belongs to the second series.
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