Past Exhibition

Apollo and Phaëton

In this fresco, Tiepolo followed Ovid’s Metamorphoses in describing Phaëton, the son of Apollo and Clymene, standing in front of his father. Uncertain about his divine origins, the youth had asked his mother about his father, and Clymene had encouraged him to go and meet him in his heavenly palace. To prove his paternity, Apollo grants Phaëton a single wish; Phaëton asks to drive the Sun’s chariot for a day. Apollo provides the exact course he should take across the sky and warns his son about the dangers of such a trip, particularly from the constellation Scorpio. Once guiding the chariot, however, Phaëton is terrified by Scorpio and quickly loses control. Falling too close to earth, he scorches it. Incensed, Jupiter hits him with a thunderbolt, hurling him out of the chariot to his death in the river Po. The fresco at the palazzo was surrounded by eight grisaille scenes depicting other stories of Apollo.

Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770)
Apollo and Phaëton, ca. 1730–31
Oil on canvas
25 1/4 × 18 3/4 in. (64.1 × 47.6 cm)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

 

Tiepolo set this scene in the dwelling of the Sun, described by Ovid as decorated with high columns and resplendent in golden light. Two winged figures close the composition at top and bottom. Above is Saturn, the god of Time, swooping down from the sky, holding his scythe. On the ground, fast asleep, is Morpheus, god of slumber, accompanied by another winged, sleeping figure.

Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770)
Apollo and Phaëton, ca. 1730-31 (destroyed 1943)
From Attilio Centelli and Gerardo Molfese, Gli affreschi di G.B. Tiepolo raccolti da Gerardo Molfese con uno studio di Attilio Centelli (Turin, 1897), pl. 9
Page from unbound book
23 1/2 × 17 5/8 in. (598 × 448 mm)
Azienda di Servizi alla Persona Golgi-Redaelli, Milan
su autorizzazione dell'Azienda di Servizi alla Persona Golgi-Redaelli di Milano

 

The compositions of the final Archinto fresco and that of the Los Angeles sketch are almost identical. The positions of Autumn and Winter vary slightly, with the two figures closer together in the fresco. The depiction of sunflowers is also altered, as is the position of Phaëton's proper right arm. He holds the whip at a different angle.