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Daedalus and Icarus

Maker

(artist)
1568-1640

Title

Daedalus and Icarus

Date of Production

(circa) 1600

Medium

black and red chalk with stumping on laid paper, with red chalk framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 45.7 cm
Width: 33.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3792

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

As told in 'Metamorphoses', Daedalus, an Athenian craftsman, was imprisoned on the island of Crete with his son Icarus. They planned to escape using wings which Daedalus made from feathers, joined to their bodies with wax. The tragedy shown here occurred because Icarus, exhilarated by the freedom of flying in the open air, ignored his father's warnings against flying too high. The heat of the sun melted the wax, causing the wings to drop off and Icarus to fall into the sea and drown. This theme of man's attempts to conquer air through flight was used by Renaissance moralists to teach the virtues of moderation and to warn against extremes of ambition or intellectual enquiry.

Notes

There is an engraving (in the opposite sense) possibly based on this design, but with many differences (Rome, Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, F.C. 36628). Marco Bolzoni (2013, p. 317) does not think they are related and thinks this design may be for an engraving that was never executed.

Provenance

Jonathan Richardson, the elder, London (1665-1745), L.2184 and L.2983; Efim Schapiro, London (1899-1977); acquired from him (in an exchange) by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Drawing Together, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/09/2017-02/01/2018

Falling Up - The Gravity of Art, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/06/2011-04/09/2011

Literature

The Courtauld Gallery and Thomas, Ben. Drawing Together (London: Courtauld Gallery, 2017-2018)
p. 8
ill. on p. 10

Bolzoni, Marco Simone, Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino, Rome, Ugo Bozzi Editore 2013
p. 120 and no. 193 on p. 317
ill. on p. 121, p. 317

Il Cavaliere d'Arpino, Palazzo Venezia, Rome, 1973
under no. V

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower right edge, brown ink, signed by the artist?: "Cavalr. Gius. Arpino". Scrap of paper (removed from former backing sheet? Now in file): brown ink, crossed out in red chalk: "No. 29"; red chalk, underlined: "No. 60". Verso: lower centre edge, brown ink: "Cavalier Josepin". Mount (removed, in box of mounts from P&D), Verso: upper centre edge, brown ink, Jonathan Richardson the elder's hand, shelf marks: “Fl. 40. / V.”; lower right, graphite: “G Cesari. / Cavaliere d'Arpino”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right, stamped in black: Jonathan Richardson, the elder (L.2184). Mount (removed, in box of mounts from P&D), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b). Mount (removed, in box of mounts from P&D), Verso: upper centre edge, pen and brown ink, shelfmarks transcribed above: Jonathan Richardson, the elder (L.2983).

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