The Fall of Phaeton
c. 1591
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown and red washes over black chalk, heightened with white and indented for transfer
Dimensions
overall: 50 x 62 cm (19 11/16 x 24 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
New Century Fund
Accession Number
1997.103.1
Art Historical Context
Joseph Heintz the Elder created this dynamic drawing around 1591, capturing the dramatic moment from classical mythology when Phaeton loses control of his father Helios’s sun chariot and plunges to earth. As a Swiss artist who trained in Italy and later worked at the imperial court in Prague, Heintz brought a Northern European sensibility to Mannerist themes of ambition and downfall. The large sheet, measuring 50 by 62 centimeters, was clearly intended as a working design rather than a finished work of art. The medium—pen and brown ink with washes of brown and red over black chalk, heightened...