The Fall of Phaeton

c. 1604–08

Oil on canvas, 98.4 × 131.2 cm · National Gallery of Art, Washington

Painted by the young Rubens in Italy and reworked over several years; painted-over reins and straps still show through. The picture catches the instant the sun’s chariot breaks apart.

Phaeton falls headfirst, wearing only a red sash, as the four horses scatter.
The butterfly-winged women at left are the Horae, the seasons, reacting in terror.
At lower right the earth catches fire; Jupiter’s thunderbolt strikes from outside the frame.
Probably the “Phaeton by Rubens” listed in an Antwerp inventory of 1657; bought by the gallery in 1990.

Phaeton begged his father, the sun god, to let him drive the sun’s chariot for a day. He lost control, scorched the earth, and was struck down by Jupiter.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain