Phaeton, 1588

Series titleThe Four Disgracers

ArtistHendrick Goltzius, Mühlbrecht b. Venlo 1558–1617 Haarlem

Artistnach C. Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Haarlem 1562–1638 Haarlem

engraving

Sheet dimensions46 × 33,9 cm

Diameter33,1 cm

Status

not on display

About the workPride comes before a fall: in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, the Roman poet describes how the gods punish human pride and hubris by throwing them out of heaven or down into the underworld filled with billowing clouds of smoke. Hendrick Goltzius directs the viewer’s gaze to the humans’ muscular, foreshortened bodies and portrays a supposed moment of calm in the midst of catastrophe. In the background, small, delicately drawn scenes of their offences reinforce the impression of free fall that Goltzius has depicted entirely from his imagination: the telescope was not invented until 20 years later.

AccessionCollection of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Provenance[…]; seit 1932 Dauerleihgabe der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Inventory numberKA (FP) 2633 D

Contact

sammlung@kunstpalast.de

Permalink

https://sammlung.kunstpalast.de/en/objects/113908/phaeton

Expand