The Fall of Phaeton by Michelangelo

The Fall of Phaeton illustrates the Classical myth of Phaeton, seen here tumbling out of his cart, as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Michelangelo drew three versions of The Fall of Phaeton and each is given three layers of figures that fonn a triangle against a blank background.

Phaeton was the son of Phoebus, the god who mistakenly allowed his son to ride the Chariot of the Sun. Phaeton drove the cart so badly that he was in danger of destroying Heaven and Earth. To stop the impending disaster Zeus, seen at the top of the drawing riding upon a great bird, had to kill Phaeton with a thunderbolt.

The three wonmen at the bottom are Phaeton's sisters, the weeping Heliades. Zeus transformed these three into poplar trees; their legs have taken the shape of tree trunks, while their arms are changing into branches. Phaeton's friend Cygnus has already been transformed into a swan, flapping his huge wings behind the sisters. At the bottom of the sketch, the rechnwg figure of the river god Eridanus calmly looks up to see the body of Phaeton hurtling towards him.