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Lot Essay
The subject of this picture is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Greek mythology Phaeton was the the son of the Helios (Apollo), the Sun God. Ovid tells how Phaeton petitions his unwilling father to allow him to drive his chariot across the skies for one day. The wish, to which his father reluctantly grants, leads to tragedy, for Jupiter - fearing catastrophe as parts of the earth catch fire - sent a thunderbolt which wrecked the chariot and sent Phaeton hurtling down in flames into the River Eridanus.
Wilson exhibited a picture of this subject at the Society of Artists in 1763 entitled 'A Large landskip with Phaeton's petition to Apollo'. An engraving in reverse by Woollett, which seems likely to have been taken from the exhibited picture, described the picture as being in the collection of the Duke of Bridgewater, and Benjamin Booth (1732-1807) also mentions it in that collection (unpublished notes, doc.5, see Constable, op.cit.). Another possible reference to the picture is provided by Joseph Farington who in an entry in his diary for 24 May 1801 mentions ' West [Benjamin West] told me the Duke of Bridgewater has sold his two by Wilson, viz., Phaeton & companion' (The Diary of Joseph Farington , ed. K. Garlick and A. Macintyre, London, 1979, IV, p. 1553). The present picture, which was acquired by Peter, 5th Earl Cowper, in the posthumous sale of the collection of the celebrated connoisseur Walsh Porter, at Christie's on 22 March 1803, may well be the picture exhibited at the Society of Artists and later in the Bridgewater collection. Constable (op. cit.) comments that the 'companion' which Farington mentioned may either be the Niobe which remained in the Ellesmere collection (Constable, op.cit., p.162, pl. 20(b)), in which case Benjamin West would appear to have been mistaken, or it may be the Apollo and the Seasons which John Pye mentioned as being in the Bridgewater collection (J.Pye, Patronage of British Art, London, 1845; see W.G. Constable, op.cit., p.168, under pl. 26).
A larger version of the subject (96 x 96 in.), in which the composition is reversed, was one of four pictures commissioned from the artist by Henry Blundell for Ince Hall, Lancashire (Constable, p.163, pl. 22a). Another was included in the William Angerstein sale, Christie's, 24 February 1883, lot 265, described as 'Phaeton; A grand Landscape, with buildings and figures by P. Battoni. Engraved by Woollett', which raises the possibility that it may be the engraved picture and the Bridgewater picture. A smaller version (28 x 36 in.) is recorded in a private collection (Constable, op.cit.).
Wilson exhibited a picture of this subject at the Society of Artists in 1763 entitled 'A Large landskip with Phaeton's petition to Apollo'. An engraving in reverse by Woollett, which seems likely to have been taken from the exhibited picture, described the picture as being in the collection of the Duke of Bridgewater, and Benjamin Booth (1732-1807) also mentions it in that collection (unpublished notes, doc.5, see Constable, op.cit.). Another possible reference to the picture is provided by Joseph Farington who in an entry in his diary for 24 May 1801 mentions ' West [Benjamin West] told me the Duke of Bridgewater has sold his two by Wilson, viz., Phaeton & companion' (The Diary of Joseph Farington , ed. K. Garlick and A. Macintyre, London, 1979, IV, p. 1553). The present picture, which was acquired by Peter, 5th Earl Cowper, in the posthumous sale of the collection of the celebrated connoisseur Walsh Porter, at Christie's on 22 March 1803, may well be the picture exhibited at the Society of Artists and later in the Bridgewater collection. Constable (op. cit.) comments that the 'companion' which Farington mentioned may either be the Niobe which remained in the Ellesmere collection (Constable, op.cit., p.162, pl. 20(b)), in which case Benjamin West would appear to have been mistaken, or it may be the Apollo and the Seasons which John Pye mentioned as being in the Bridgewater collection (J.Pye, Patronage of British Art, London, 1845; see W.G. Constable, op.cit., p.168, under pl. 26).
A larger version of the subject (96 x 96 in.), in which the composition is reversed, was one of four pictures commissioned from the artist by Henry Blundell for Ince Hall, Lancashire (Constable, p.163, pl. 22a). Another was included in the William Angerstein sale, Christie's, 24 February 1883, lot 265, described as 'Phaeton; A grand Landscape, with buildings and figures by P. Battoni. Engraved by Woollett', which raises the possibility that it may be the engraved picture and the Bridgewater picture. A smaller version (28 x 36 in.) is recorded in a private collection (Constable, op.cit.).