COLLECTION NAME:
Rylands Collection
Record
Image Number:
JRL1011041dc
Reference Number:
R113878
Link to Catalogue:
Image Title:
Fall of Phaeton
Parent Work Title:
The sonnets of Michelangelo
Creator:
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564
Creator Role:
Artist
Date Created:
1961
Publication Details:
London : Folio Society
Description:
Illustration: The Fall of Phaeton. The drawing in black chalk was made by Michelangelo for Tommaso de'Cavalieri. The study shows Phaeton, the son of Helios, the Greek god who drove the chariot of the sun, driving the chariot after having tricked his father into letting him do so. The horses instantly bolted, scorching everything in their path with the sun's heat, and to save the universe from destruction, Zeus, king of the gods, threw a thunderbolt. As the chariot disintegrates, Phaeton plunges to his death while below, his grief-stricken sisters are transformed into poplar trees while another relation, Cycnus, has become a swan. Underneath the study is a note written in Michelangelo's hand: 'Messer Tommaso, if this sketch does not please you, say so to Urbino in time for me to do another tomorrow evening, as I promised you; and if it pleases you and you wish me to finish it, send it back to me'.
Subject:
Mythology, Greek
Category of Material:
Printed
Current Repository:
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2010-08-04
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by Heritage Imaging, The University of Manchester Library
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Fall of Phaeton
