Apollo Driving the Chariot of the Rising Sun
1527–85
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk; squared in red chalk
Dimensions
9 9/16 x 14in. (24.3 x 35.5cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.168
Tags
Art Historical Context
Luca Cambiaso’s drawing captures the dynamic moment when Apollo, the Greek god of light and music, guides his fiery chariot across the sky at dawn. Created between 1527 and 1585, the sheet reflects the lively interest in classical mythology that flourished during the late Renaissance in Italy. Cambiaso, a Genoese artist celebrated for his inventive draftsmanship, uses vigorous pen strokes and broad washes of brown ink to convey the speed and energy of the galloping horses and the radiant figure of the sun god. The technique—pen and brown ink with brush wash over black chalk, squared in red ch...
About the Artist
Luca Cambiaso · 1527–1585
Luca Cambiaso (1527–1585) was an Italian painter and draftsman who dominated artistic life in Genoa during the second half of the sixteenth century and became one of the most innovative draftsmen of the Late Renaissance. Born in Moneglia near Genoa, he trained under his father, the painter Giovanni Cambiaso, and demonstrated precocious talent, reportedly completing his first public fresco commissi...