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The Fall of Phaeton
Sir Peter Paul Rubens·c. 1604/1605, probably reworked c. 1606/1608
Historical Context
Rubens painted The Fall of Phaeton around 1604-05, reworking it around 1606-08, during his Italian period. The myth of Phaeton, who lost control of the sun chariot and was struck down by Jupiter's thunderbolt, gave Rubens an opportunity to display his mastery of dramatic action and dynamic composition. The tumbling figures, rearing horses, and swirling cosmic energy demonstrate the influence of Michelangelo and ancient Roman sculpture. Now in the National Gallery of Art, the painting represents Rubens's Italian period, when he was absorbing the lessons of Renaissance and classical art.
Technical Analysis
The composition is a spectacular exercise in depicting falling figures, with bodies and horses cascading diagonally through the canvas. Rubens's reworking is visible in areas of heavier paint, suggesting his desire to intensify the dramatic impact with more confident brushwork.
Look Closer
- ◆Phaeton tumbles from the sky in a spectacular spiral, his body arching backward as the chariot of the sun disintegrates around him
- ◆The terrified horses plunge in different directions, their eyes rolling and mouths foaming — Rubens captures four distinct equine expressions of panic
- ◆Jupiter's thunderbolt streaks diagonally across the composition, the source of the catastrophe that will restore order to the cosmos
- ◆The earth below is barely visible through swirling clouds, emphasizing the vertiginous height from which Phaeton falls
- ◆Technical analysis has shown Rubens reworked this painting significantly around 1606-08, strengthening the diagonal composition and adding figures
Condition & Conservation
One of Rubens's most studied paintings, technical analysis at the NGA has revealed extensive reworking by the artist himself around 1606-08 over the original composition of c. 1604-05. X-radiography shows significant changes to the horse positions and figure placement. The painting has been carefully cleaned and conserved.
Provenance
Probably in the collection of Susanna Willemsens [d. 1657], Antwerp.[1] (possibly General Gansell sale, Christie's, London, 25 February 1775, no. 81 [bought in for £67]).[2] James Du Pre Alexander, 3th earl of Caledon [1812-1855], London, before 1857;[3] by inheritance to his son, James Alexander, 4th earl of Caledon [1846-1898], London; by inheritance to his son, Eric James Desmond Alexander, 5th earl of Caledon [1885-1968], London; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 9 June 1939, no. 24, as by A.J. van Diepenbeck); Mrs. Sanderson, London; S. [Mrs. Gustave] Delbanco, London, by 1954;[4] Gustave Delbanco, London; purchased 5 January 1990 through (Ellin Mitchell, New York) by NGA. [1] Listed as "Eenen Phaeton van Rubens, op doeck" in the inventory of Willemsens collection made in Antwerp on July 6, 1657. See Jean Denucé, _The Antwerp art-galleries; inventories of the art collections in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th centuries_, Antwerp, 1932: 197. [2] Algernon Graves, _Art Sales from Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century (Mostly Old Master and Early English Pictures)_, 3 vols., London, 1918-1921: 3(1921):109; Michael Jaffé, "Rubens in Italy: Rediscovered Works," _The Burlington Magazome_ 100 (December 1958): 416. [3] Gustav-Friedrich Waagen (_Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of more than Forty Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Mss., &c.&c._, [Forming a supplemental volume to the Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 3 vols.], London, 1857: 152), considered the painting to be a copy after Rubens. [4] According to Jaffé 1958, 415 note 11.
