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Phaeton
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E12A - Phaeton
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Phaeton
Credit Line
The Trustees of the British Museum
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Artist
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson
Title
Phaeton
Date
1763
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
480 x 610 mm
Dimensions
18 7/8 x 24 in.
Details
Links
Collection
The British Museum.
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Accession Number
1868,0822.1974
Wilson Online Reference
E12A
Description
Landscape with Phaeton and Apollo in the centre. Phaeton kneels before his father, asking permission to drive the chariot of the sun across the heavens for one day. There are nymphs to the right and left, a flock of sheep and a shepherd on the next hill. The river Styx can be seen behind and there is a temple and castle, with the rays of the sun over it.
Landscape with Phaeton and Apollo in the centre. Phaeton kneels before his father, asking permission to drive the chariot of the sun across the heavens for one day. There are nymphs to the right and left, a flock of sheep and a shepherd on the next hill. The river Styx can be seen behind and there is a temple and castle, with the rays of the sun over it.
Exhibited
[An impression] Free Society of Artists, 1763 (246 - Phaeton's suit to Apollo: a proof print)
[An impression] Free Society of Artists, 1763 (246 - Phaeton's suit to Apollo: a proof print)
Provenance
Signature/inscription
Unlettered
Unlettered
Techniques and materials
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Verso inscriptions
Mount inscriptions
Labels
Subject
The narrative comes from the first part of the story as told by Ovid in <i>Metamorphoses</i>, Book 2, ll. 31-102, where Apollo agrees to grant his son, Phaeton, any wish he desires as a proof of paternity. In response Phaeton asks to be allowed to drive his father's chariot across the sky for one day - with disastrous consequences.
The narrative comes from the first part of the story as told by Ovid in
Metamorphoses
, Book 2, ll. 31-102, where Apollo agrees to grant his son, Phaeton, any wish he desires as a proof of paternity. In response Phaeton asks to be allowed to drive his father's chariot across the sky for one day - with disastrous consequences.
Related Subjects
Related Drawings
Related Prints
Versions
Related Paintings
P119A <i>Landscape with Phaeton's Petition to Apollo</i>, Private Collection
P119A
Landscape with Phaeton's Petition to Apollo
, Private Collection
Related Works by Other Artists
Critical commentary
At the 1763 exhibition of the Free Society of Artists the print was compared unfavourably by Tobias Smollett with George Stubbs's print of the same subject that had been exhibited the previous year. However, as noted by Martin Postle, Smollett did praise Woollett, whose star was rapidly rising: 'The engraver has shown all his art in the sky and in the rays of the sun, which strike over and about the building; and we never before saw the light and shadow so well preserved in any print so very delicately engraved.'
At the 1763 exhibition of the Free Society of Artists the print was compared unfavourably by Tobias Smollett with George Stubbs's print of the same subject that had been exhibited the previous year. However, as noted by Martin Postle, Smollett did praise Woollett, whose star was rapidly rising: 'The engraver has shown all his art in the sky and in the rays of the sun, which strike over and about the building; and we never before saw the light and shadow so well preserved in any print so very delicately engraved.'
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
Bibliography
T. Smollett, <i>The Critical Review; or Annals of Literature</i>, vol. 16, London, 1763, p. 314; Edwards 1808, p. 88; Fagan 1885, pp. 22-23, cat. LI, 4th State; Clayton 1997, pp. 198-99
T. Smollett,
The Critical Review; or Annals of Literature
, vol. 16, London, 1763, p. 314; Edwards 1808, p. 88; Fagan 1885, pp. 22-23, cat. LI, 4th State; Clayton 1997, pp. 198-99
Link to WG Constable Archive Record
Location featured in work
More Information
Condition/Conservation
Illustrations of the Work
Updated by Compiler
Work of Art
Prints
William Pengree Sherlock, Lefevre & Kohler after Wilson,
Phaeton
, The British Museum
Versions
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson,
Phaeton
, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson,
Faetonte
, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson,
Phaeton
, The British Museum
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson,
Phaeton
, Royal Academy of Arts, London
William Woollett (1735-1785) after Wilson,
Phaeton
, The British Museum
Paintings
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782),
Phaeton's Petition to Apollo
, Private Collection
Exhibitions
Biographies
William Woollett, 1735-1785
Lord Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, 1736-1803
Documents
Edward Edwards,
Anecdotes of Painters who have resided or been born in England; with critical Remarks on their Productions
Louis Fagan,
A Catalogue Raisonné of the engraved Works of William Woollett
Part of a sketchbook
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