Old Masters Day Sale, including portrait miniatures from the collection of the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher
Old Masters Day Sale, including portrait miniatures from the collection of the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher
Property restituted from the Olomouc Museum of Art, Czech Republic
Frans Francken the Younger
The Fall of Phaeton
No reserve
Lot Closed
December 9, 03:56 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property restituted from the Olomouc Museum of Art, Czech Republic
Frans Francken the Younger
Antwerp 1581 - 1642
The Fall of Phaeton
signed lower right: DEN. JON. FFRANCKE[...]
oil on copper, a drawing of a snake on the reverse
unframed: 44.9 x 35.5 cm.; 17¾ x 14 in.
framed: 59.3 x 49.6 cm.; 23⅜ x 19½ in.
From whom acquired by a private collector, Czech Republic, after 1945;
From whom confiscated and deposited at the Olomouc Museum of Art (inv. no. D482), in 1958;
Returned to the heirs of the original owner in 1993, when loaned to the Olomouc Museum of Art.
A. Jirka, Vlámské a holandské malířství XVII. století z moravských sbíerk, exh. cat., Zlín 1981, no. 38;
L. Machytka, Obrazy nizozemskýchí malířů na Olomoucku. Okresní archiv v Olomouci 1987, Olomouc 1988, p. 46;
J. Vaková, Nizozemské malířství 15 a 16 století. Československé sbírky, Prague 1989, p. 264;
L. Machytka, ‘Nové poznatky o nizozemských obrazech v Olomouci’, in Ročenka Státního okresního archivu v Olomouci 1998, Olomouc 1999, p. 135;
L. Machytka and G. Elbelová (eds), Netherlandish Painting of the 16th-18th centuries from Olomouc Collections. Olomouc Picture Gallery, vol. II, Olomouc 2000, pp. 45-47, no. 23, reproduced p. 46.
Phaeton, son of Apollo, God of the Sun, begged his father to allow him to drive the chariot of the sun across the skies. His reckless driving caused him to lose control of the chariot, and taking it too close to the earth, the land was scorched by its intense heat. According to the story, recounted at length in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (1.750ff), Jupiter intervened, sending a thunderbolt to obliterate the carriage and save the universe from complete destruction.
Francken shows Phaeton and his horses falling to their death against glowing, turbulent skies. Beneath, chaos and destruction can be seen on earth. The Horae, female figures with butterfly wings who personify the four seasons, watch in horror as Phaeton’s actions disrupt the harmony and order of the universe.
The mythological subject was popular with artists for its dramatic possibilities. The horses in this composition have probably been taken from a print after Michelangelo’s drawing of the same subject.1