Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Icarus

Giulio Romano
Daedalus and Icarus
ca. 1530-35
drawing
Art Institute of Chicago

Giovanni da Castelbolognese
Fall of Icarus
ca. 1540-45
rock crystal intaglio
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Anonymous Italian Maker
Fall of Icarus
ca. 1580-1620
onyx cameo
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Hendrik Goltzius after Cornelis van Haarlem
Fall of Icarus
ca. 1588
engraving
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Anthony van Dyck
Daedalus and Icarus
ca. 1615-25
oil on canvas
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Simon Vouet
Daedalus and Icarus
ca. 1625
oil on canvas
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut

Andrea Sacchi
Daedalus and Icarus
ca. 1645
oil on canvas
Musei di Strada Nuova, Genoa

Charles Le Brun
Daedalus and Icarus
ca. 1664-65
oil on canvas
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

from The Metamorphoses

Daedalus now had come to detest his protracted exile
in Crete and was longing to visit his native country again,
but his way was barred by the sea. 'King Minos can block my escape
by land or water,' he sighed. 'The air, at least, is still open;
my path lies there. He is lord of the world, but not lord of the sky.'
So saying, he put his mind to techniques unexplored before
and altered the laws of nature. He carefully layered some feathers,
the smallest to start with, the shorter positioned next to the longer –
you'd think they had grown like that – as sometimes rustic panpipes
rise in a gradual slope with their reeds of unequal length;
and then he bound them with twine in the middle and wax at the bottom.
This neatly compacted plumage he curved in a gentle camber
to imitate real birds' wings. His young son Icarus, standing
beside him and little aware of the threat to himself he was touching,
smiled as he caught at the feathers fluttering in the breeze;
and now and again he would carelessly soften the yellow wax
with his thumb, enjoying his game as a meddled and interfered
with his father's wonderful work. But soon the finishing touches
were deftly laid, and Daedalus balanced his aged body
on both of his wings, then beat at the air and hovered suspended.
Next he instructed his son: 'Now, Icarus, listen carefully!
Keep to the middle way. If you fly too low, the water
will clog your wings; if you fly too high, they'll be scorched by fire.
Fly between sea and sun. No need to determine your course
by Boötes, the Bear, or Orion's naked sword, like a sailor.
Simply follow my lead.' As he gave his pupil his flying
orders, he fitted the wings on the boy's inexperienced shoulders;
and while he did it the old man's cheeks were wet with his tears
and his hands were trembling in fatherly fear."

– Ovid (8 AD), translated by David Raeburn (2004)

Joost de Momper the Younger
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
before 1635
oil on panel
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Francesco Allegrini
Fall of Icarus
before 1679
oil on paper, mounted on panel
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Merry-Joseph Blondel
Fall of Icarus
1819
ceiling painting
Rotonde d'Apollon, Louvre

Abraham Bloemaert
Lucht
(Fall of Icarus)
ca. 1632
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Stefano della Bella
Icarus and Daedalus
(from Jeu de Mythologie)
1644
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Frans Xaver Wagenschön
Daedalus forming the wings of Icarus with melted wax
before 1790
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Anonymous Sculptor
Daedalus and Icarus
(modern forgery of Roman relief)
undated
marble
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York