Phaeton, from "The Four Disgracers"1588
Phaeton, son of the sun god, who lost control of his father’s chariot and was struck down by Jupiter, tumbles headlong through the air in a circular frame, his muscular body twisted in dramatic foreshortening. More about this work
About this work
Phaeton, son of the sun god, who lost control of his father’s chariot and was struck down by Jupiter, tumbles headlong through the air in a circular frame, his muscular body twisted in dramatic foreshortening. The print is one of the four ‘Disgracers’ engraved by Hendrick Goltzius in 1588 after designs by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, showing Tantalus, Icarus, Phaeton and Ixion, each punished for overreaching. The series became a showpiece of Haarlem Mannerism, delighting in exaggerated anatomy and impossible viewpoints.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Engraving
- Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.
Hendrick Goltzius
Dutch, 1558–1617 · Born in Mühlbracht; died in Haarlem.
Goltzius was the outstanding Dutch engraver of his generation, despite a childhood injury that crippled his right hand. In Haarlem he joined Karel van Mander and Cornelis van Haarlem in promoting the muscular Mannerist style of Bartholomeus Spranger, engraving swelling, tapering lines of great virtuosity. A journey to Italy in 1590–91 turned him towards classical sculpture, as in his engravings of the Apollo Belvedere, and around 1600 he gave up engraving for painting.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 53.601.338(5)
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Prints
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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