Description
Having flown too close to the sun, Icarus plummets from the sky as the wax securing his makeshift wings melts, and the straps unravel. His father Daedelus, who invented the wings, watches in horror as his son begins a deadly fall. Punished for failing to heed his father’s warning and attempting to enter the realm of the gods, Icarus was a moral reminder to Renaissance viewers of human fallibility and the risks of excessive pride.
Provenance
Joseph van Haecken (Lugt 2516, stamped, lower right, in black ink); Sir Joshua Reynolds (Lugt 2364, stamped, lower right, in black ink)
Accession Number
1992.90
Medium
pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over red chalk, heightened with lead white
Dimensions
Sheet: 39.8 x 29.3 cm (15 11/16 x 11 9/16 in.); Secondary Support: 41.9 x 31.6 cm (16 1/2 x 12 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Robert A. Frary in memory of I. T. Frary
