The Fall of Phaeton: A Historical Dive

The annihilating passions of human beings “can reach out and destroy not only the earth, but the fabric of the universe.”

Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ piece titled The Fall of Phaeton was created in c. 1604/1605 with its medium being oil on canvas, and is now housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. This work of art embodies the Senecan quote on Greek tragedy as it presents the momentous scene of cosmic havoc which had befallen Phaeton due to his unrestrained conceit—losing control over the sun chariot, Phaeton is flung to his glorious death by streaks of lightning amongst a chaotic ensemble of white horses and Horae goddesses. In The Fall of Phaeton, the mythological subject matter of Ovid’s Metamorphoses details Phaeton’s evocative, calamitous collapse and the punishing power of the natural order, while the historical contexts of the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist artists convey Rubens’ Neostoic idea about the ambivalence and futility of establishing a definitive concept of morality. Throughout Rubens’ stages of revisions in Italy and Antwerp, the formal elements of high drama, juxtaposition, illusionistic settings, and dynamic composition of The Fall of Phaeton illuminate its commercial and religious functions, and in turn, unravel Rubens’ experimental process and his established artistic consistency in Hero and Leander and other works.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses:

The story of Phaeton’s ruinous hubris in The Fall of Phaeton parallels Metamorphoses, a Latin narrative poem written by the Roman poet Ovid in 8 AD. In Metamorphoses, Ovid chronicles Helios’ stern reprimand against Phaeton’s disregard for the catastrophic power of nature’s elements:

The rushing sky is constantly turning, and drags along the remote stars, and whirls them in rapid orbits… Will you be able to counter the turning poles so that the swiftness of the skies does not carry you away?… You will not easily rule those proud horses, breathing out through mouth and nostrils the fires burning in their chests.

Rubens’ interpretation of Ovid’s text focuses on the allegorical consequences of Phaeton’s immoderate pride through the depiction of the cataclysmic heavens. Rubens’ dramatic illustration of light and shadow accentuates Ovid’s foreshadowing of Phaeton’s downfall and perfectly encapsulates the repercussions of his hubris. Rubens conveys the loss of light through greyish clouds and carbon black spaces, echoing the underlying theme of darkness and chaos in Metamorphoses. In contrast, Rubens illuminates Phaeton’s diagonally stricken body with a vivid flash of intense lightning, emphasizing his tragic outcome borne from the “swiftness of the skies.” The scintillating rays of light reveal the horrified expressions of the surrounding gods and goddesses as they plummet in the air and lose control over the white horses that previously escorted the chariot—the heightened emotional brilliancy engendered by the unruly steeds in The Fall of Phaeton emphasizes Helios’ warning of the beasts that “scarcely tolerate his control when their fierce spirits are hot, and their necks resist the reins” in Ovid’s poem. 

While Rubens pinpoints the moralizing aspect of the deconstruction of the natural order, artistic liberties were taken in the impassioned rendition of The Fall of Phaeton. In Metamorphoses, Ovid presents a political cautionary tale:

The middle way is best, and safest.

And do not veer too far to the right

Where your wheels might crush the Serpent, nor to the left…

The political interpretation of Ovid’s poem was popularized by Karel van Mander, a Dutch art theorist who observes the myth as a parable that educates countries on the devastating impacts of the inexperienced reign of youthful rulers—they cause “not only their own ruin but also that of their community.” Rubens’ predominant interest, however, was not to propose Ovid’s practical political recommendation to heed “the middle way.” Rather, he shifts the focus of Metamorphoses to a more theoretical allusion of Phaeton’s inherent hamartia and the inescapable affliction of human nature, thus capitalizing on his dramatic pictorial invention of the expressive cosmic scene. 

Neostoicism: Moral Complexity & Hero and Leander

The Fall of Phaeton expresses the Neostoic idea about the humbling forces of nature and the moralizing perspective on Phaeton’s reckless downfall. Neostoicism proclaims that the basis of a life of ease is to resist the four passions of greed, joy, fear, and sorrow—promulgated by European elites in the 17^th century, the Neostoic philosophy is portrayed in Rubens’ vigorous representations of heroic pathos in other compositions, such as Hero and Leander, as well.

On one hand, the formal elements of The Fall of Phaeton leave the audience with food for thought on the perils of hubris and the primacy of humility. On the other hand, the discursive multivalency of Neostoicism sheds light on a repositioned attitude of Phaeton’s story as Rubens questions the facile distinction between the extremity of good and evil. Through the magnificent juxtaposition of light and shadow and the depiction of gloriously glaring flames against the dark surface of the seared earth, Rubens reflects on the beauty in the paradox of our innate humanistic struggle between spiritual aspirations and the plight of morality. Rather than capturing a linear “cardboard” character of Phaeton’s villainy, Rubens challenges the simplicity of the moral spectrum in Greek tragedy. 

Rubens’ interpretation of ethical complexity is rooted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses—the epitaph of Phaeton’s tomb inscribes: “Here Phaeton lies who in the sun god’s chariot fared. And though greatly he failed, more greatly he dared.” The visual response in The Fall of Phaeton resonates with the poet’s recognition of the essence of greatness in Phaeton’s irrepressible ambition, as Rubens adorns his painting with elements of grandeur and finesse from the details of the gods’ and goddesses’ flower-garlanded heads, intricately braided hair, and embellished wings with delicate patterns, to the ornate design of the golden royal chariot. Rather than condemning Phaeton’s noble failure with a painting of gloom and misery, Rubens celebrates the indisputable appeal of Phaeton’s humanism through his vibrantly flamboyant composition of the youth’s pursuit for realms above the mundane. 

The persistence of Neostoicism in The Fall of Phaeton is associated with Ruben’s Hero and Leander, which depicts the tragedy of the drowning Leander on a journey across the stormy Hellespont to unite with his beloved Hero. As both paintings elicit a sense of sympathy and grudging admiration rather than disdain towards the protagonists’ unbridled passions, art scholar Georgievska-Shine suggests a clue to understanding the interpretive emphasis of Rubens’ works—the personal inspiration of his brother Philip. Upon the death of Philip’s spiritual father Lipsius, his poems personified his unquenchable thirst for the unattainable heights of his mentor’s knowledge through allusions to mythological figures such as Phaeton and Icarus. Through the exalting contrast of light and darkness, Rubens took artistic liberties in glorifying the theatrical defiance of fate in The Fall of Phaeton and Hero and Leander, and in turn justifying the futility and presumptuousness of his brother’s intellectual desires. 

Ruben’s Hero and Leander

Not only is Hero and Leander a thematic counterpart of The Fall of Phaeton, but the two paintings also share similarities in visual conventions. The bases of both paintings are grounded with dark indigo skies and seas, dulled by a dim layer of brownish tan. Rubens juxtaposes the unifying effect of both semi-solid cold blue backgrounds with warm colors that draw the audience’s attention to the heart of the painting, producing a paralleled formal symmetry in the central concentration of human bodies in his structurally homogenous works. However, it is important to note the difference in the experimental role of the paintings—while visible traces of pentimenti in The Fall of Phaeton elucidate a comparatively exploratory process, Rubens deemed Hero and Leander as a composition unnecessary for revision. 

Italian Renaissance: Michelangelo and Mannerism

When Rubens traveled to Italy and immersed himself in the lavish historical city of Rome, he embarked on a journey to the Italian Renaissance of classical antiquity. Upon his visit to Venice, he was influenced by the colorful and dramatic paintings of Titian and Tintoretto and served as a court painter for Vincenzo Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua, during his Roman sojourn. As Rubens was convinced that “to achieve the highest perfection one needs a full understanding of the statues… one must make judicious use of them and before all avoid the effect of the stone,” his Italian patron endorsed his studies of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caravaggio. In The Fall of Phaeton, Rubens’ horses bear salient resemblance to Da Vinci’s intricate composition of steeds in The Battle of Anghiari. Yet, Rubens’ greatest guide on the theoretical virtue of arts of the past was none other than the prodigious Michelangelo. 

Profoundly absorbed by the relics of antiquity, Rubens perceived the ancient world not only as an elevated form of artistic existence, but also one fluent in the disciplines of physical perfection and the paradigms of moral and cultural certitude. Critically dissecting Michelangelo’s sculptural forms and the nuances in the subtle body language of line and contouring, Rubens communicated his concerns with artistic imitation in his essay De Imitatione Statuarum. He criticized modernity’s incontinence in the tendency to create figures that were too contrived and spiritless while seeking to retrieve the forgotten artistic wisdom of capturing the living flesh.

Rubens paid a marked effort to imbibe the past. As he navigated his identity in art history through his affinity with the antiquity of Michelangelo, he created detailed studies of the Florentine master’s Prophets and Sibyls from the Sistine Ceiling. Rubens paid particular attention to the tenuous connection between the movements of bones, tendons, and rippling musculature in the sculpture Belvedere Torso, and incorporated his learnings in The Fall of Phaeton. Through the use of curvilinear lines, Rubens establishes the contours of the horses’ torsos and explicates his ancient Humanist ideals of naturalism. Furthermore, the contrapposto pose of the gods can be identified from the depiction of proportional limbs hanging mid-air at opposing extended angles, enhancing the body’s suppleness and tension at the same time. As Rubens derived the aesthetic play of negative space, positive form, and the characterization of pathos from the Belvedere Torso, he magnifies the pandemonium and moralized exposition of The Fall of Phaeton through the use of loose, blended brushstrokes.

Rubens’ critiques of Mannerism, a style that “disgraces nature and only represents marble tinged with color,” spurred his exploration in the colorful Hellenistic portrayal of The Fall of Phaeton. Upon his visual investigations of Michelangelo’s rendering of humanity, Rubens illuminates the nude flesh of the perishing figures with shades of yellow, orange, peach, and golden paint, impeccably contrasting the grayish smoke and avoiding the impression of imitating stone. Particularly, the toned muscles of the human thighs and horses’ bottoms, as well as the outlines of the heavy clouds, are highlighted with luminous white paint that is tinted with a yellowish-brown. Consequently, Rubens creates an overall sharp warm contrast of living creatures against the cold cobalt hue of the heavens—his use of rustic earthy tones effectively reiterated his thesis in cleansing “the smell of stone.”

Rubens’ revisions of The Fall of Phaeton in Italy extrapolates a stylized, exaggerated approach of Mannerism. He reconstructs an abstract representation of Jupiter’s wrath through the use of conceptual and translucent brushstrokes that delineate bursts of gleaming thunderbolts, creating a symbolic rather than practical iconography of the god’s fury. In suppressing the most violent thematic compositions of the gruesome horror of Phaeton’s death, Rubens utilized extensive pentimenti as well as chiaroscuro lighting to extend his visual abstraction of nature’s forces, painting over tangled horse reins and piercing through the central mass of human bodies, ending in narrow brushstrokes of glinting rays at the bottom left quadrant. The flickering texture of fire interlaces with the scarlet red, crimson, and amber colors of the velvet fabrics, mirroring Rubens’ interest in Tintoretto’s color and his use of Baroque impasto accents during his Italian years in painting The Fall of Phaeton.

Return to Antwerp: Revisions and Flemish Patronage 

In 1608, Rubens received word about the severely deteriorating condition of his mother’s asthma and the nearing end of her life. Upon Rubens’  decision to return to his dying mother in Antwerp, he never sold The Fall of Phaeton, retaining the piece in his private studio and constantly working on it, altering both visual and thematic transitions. 

The new revision of The Fall of Phaeton is highlighted by streaks of jolting light, licking flames of fire and cloaks, and ephemeral wisps of charred clouds. Through the interwovenness of the different elements of fire and earth, Rubens expresses an illusionistic setting, as though one could enter the multi-dimensional scene of the tragedy. The modified composition hints at Rubens’ thematic balance and intended pairing of The Fall of Phaeton with the mournful Hero and Leander, thus assembling a suite of nature’s opposing forces: while the former represents the hot and dry elements of fire and earth, the latter establishes a corresponding symmetry that conveys the cold and wet elements of water and air. Furthermore, through the illusionistic fiery elements of Phaeton’s brutal downfall and the tantalizing universal conflagration, Rubens invokes a menacing and emotional mood that enriches the conceptual rendering of Jupiter’s fury. The hasty character of the depiction of rampant infernos sets the piece apart from the earlier stages of Rubens’ painting—through the use of improvisatory brushwork, Rubens strikingly juxtaposes the careful initial strokes and captivates the audience with an overwhelming mood of awe-inspiring terror.

Ruben’s goal in his final revision was not to refurbish The Fall of Phaeton for sale, nor was it to emphasize a polished and well-organized narrative. Rather, Rubens was in search of an answer to the problem of compositional innovation as he experimented with a vivaciously unstable and complex composition. Researching the force of dynamism within The Fall of Phaeton, Rubens portrays the entanglement of battling horses, flailing human limbs, and sensuous fabric. Particularly, the rearing white horse with its billowing mane lit up by the staggering radiance of lightning in the upper right corner conjures a pulsating rhythm that penetrates the entire painting. Suspended in the skies, the sharp corners of the horses’ forelegs, the angular positioning of human arms and legs, and the flowy flame-like material of the robes all combine to reflect a precarious composition, thereby marking the experimental role of The Fall of Phaeton as a precursory rehearsal for Rubens’ compositional creative genius. Overall, in his Antwerp reworkings, Rubens tested the dynamic components of Phaeton’s spectacle, an escapade that is full of movement and high drama, and in turn developed his unique stylistic convergence of protagonists and holy light, a compositional skill vital to the evolution of his later works such as in The Conversion of Saint Paul.

As Rubens constructed his artistic identity in Antwerp society, the Brotherhood of Romanists, an exclusive club of artists and scholars, welcomed his admission. Soon after, he accepted the profitable offer of Archdukes Albert and Isabella to work as their court painter. The similarities of the subject matter and formal elements reflect Ruben’s patronage—a lucrative Antwerp market that was booming in mythological easel paintings. Driven by the allure of the fine arts and classical literature that breathes vitality into the war-ridden Antwerp country, the pivotal hub of Rubens’ works that were kept for sales without commission comprised of the intrinsically linked Greek tragedies of The Fall of Phaeton and Hero and Leander.

Rubens’ unmatched proficiency of the oil medium and his permanent choice of staying in Antwerp points to a certain extent of patriotism, as “his identity, individual and pictorial, was bound to a culture broader than his native place.” The Fall of Phaeton is a return to Rubens’ artistic heritage in the Flemish artistic conventions—from the mature allegorical style, the ostentatious freshness of rich colors, to the fleshy mythological deities, Rubens’ work imbues both spiritual sentimentality and the vibrant materialism that permeated the patronage of the Baroque age. 

Although economic and cultural factors urged Rubens’ stay in Antwerp, the space for experimental processes in The Fall of Phaeton epitomized his final temptation. Thus, independent of the interference of guilds and courts, Rubens pursued a simple dream: the freedom of choosing his own patrons.

Commercial, Allegorical, and Religious Functions

Rubens’ perception of reality in The Fall of Phaeton originated from his experience as a court page in his adolescence, where he encountered the celebration of the female body, robust horses, the amusement of gods and goddesses, the material feel of silk and velvet, and the coalescence of smoke and armor. His taste of the courtly life of nobles not only compelled Rubens’ specialization in the secular commissioned works of historical mythology, allegory, and majestic landscape, but it also prompted his knowledge of the indispensable social protocol to entice the artistic eyes of aristocrats and royal patrons.

After Rubens was made senior apprentice to Otto van Veen, one of Antwerp’s most successful artists, Rubens was consequently certified as an individual master of the Guild of St. Luke. His qualifications hastened his pictorial style and motif of ceremonial splendor in The Fall of Phaeton—the portrayals of dramatic light, elaborate posture, and dynamic sensation of movement are assimilated to the palette of the considerable artistic community and the exceedingly commercialized art trade in Antwerp. Paired with the flourishing contact with an international clientele, there was a soar in the demand for artistically luxurious paintings within the European bourgeoise and middle class in the 17^th century. Thus, Rubens shrewdly focused on responding to the materialistic appetite of the Flemish market through his emphasis on godly extravagance, Phaeton’s indulgence, and Antwerp’s tradition of decorous opulence in his ready-made work of The Fall of Phaeton. 

In addition, the function of religious art was substantially revived by the Catholic Reformation and its decree that the visual arts were to be mobilized into the battle against Protestantism. Given the increasing need for masters of the iconoclastic Baroque style of art, Rubens’ conspicuous talent in mythological representations allowed for his exemplary execution of religious art on the behest of the Church. Although The Fall of Phaeton points to Greek theology, the simultaneously realistic yet emotionally exuberant illustration of Phaeton’s sanctity aligned with Antwerp’s demand of paintings featuring the iconography of saints and miracles. Art historian Vermeylen further suggests a relationship between the Neostoic story of Phaeton and the course of Antwerp’s Eighty Years’ War, during which Rubens was stimulated to explore the Humanist ideas of mutinous passions and strife in The Fall of Phaeton. Overall, Rubens’s artistic emphasis on the power of the natural order was a timely parallel to his Catholic community’s religious purpose in revitalizing cosmic faith. 

Afterlives: Rubens and The Fall of Phaeton 

In conclusion, Rubens references the dynamic interaction between nature’s divine forces and the piteous fallen protagonists in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The Fall of Phaeton underlines a moralizing admonishment against Phaeton’s hubris, yet at the same time, Rubens encapsulates the ineliminable humanistic nature of hamartia and proposes the Neostoic ambiguity in ascribing moral responsibility at the expense of humans’ spiritual aspirations. As Rubens ventured in his creative process of exploring the traditions of color, drama, sensuality, and movement of Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance, and Antwerp’s Baroque movement, his emotionally exuberant style in The Fall of Phaeton catered to the aesthetic standards of both bourgeoise and religious patrons in the 17^th century. In today’s world of art history, Rubens’ incessant work in eradicating “the smell of stone” was an undeniable success—honored by the all-encompassing glowing fire in The Fall of Phaeton, the term “Rubenesque” is coined to describe the voluptuous nudes of the gods. And thus, Rubens’ prolifically imaginative mind makes a mark, right alongside his beloved Ancients.

Works Cited

Cody, Steven J. “Rubens and the ‘Smell Of Stone’: The Translation of the Antique and the Emulation of Michelangelo.” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics 20, no. 3 (2013): 39-55. doi:10.2307/arion.20.3.0039.

Fubini, Giorgio, and Julius S. Held. “Padre Resta’s Rubens Drawings after Ancient Sculpture.” Master Drawings 2, no. 2 (1964): 123-. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1552740.

Georgievska-Shine, Aneta. “Horror and Pity. Some Thoughts on the Sense of the Tragic in Rubens’ ‘Hero and Leander’ and ‘The Fall of Phaeton’.” Marburger Jahrbuch Für Kunstwissenschaft 30 (2003): 217-28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1348751.

Gifford, E. Melanie. “Rubens’s Invention and Evolution: Material Evidence in The Fall of Phaeton.” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 11, no. 2 (2019). doi:10.5092/jhna.2019.11.2.1.

Jaffé, Michael. “Rubens in Italy: A Self-Portrait.” The Burlington Magazine 119, no. 894 (1977): 605-45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/878963.

Ovid, and Allen Mandelbaum. 1993. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Rosenthal, Lisa. “Rubens Reconsidered: Alpers and the Making of Artistic Authority.” Oxford Art Journal 19, no. 2 (1996): 102-05. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1360735.

“The Fall of Phaeton.” Art Object Page (n.d.). https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.71349.html.

Varshavskaya, Maria, and Xenia Yegorova. Peter Paul Rubens / Maria Varshavskaya and Xenia Yegorova. New York, New York: Parkstone International, 2014.

Vermeylen, Filip. “Antwerp Beckons: The Reasons for Rubens’ Return to the Netherlands in 1608.” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 55 (2004): 16-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24706547.