The myth of Daedalus and

Icarus
Told through art
and
quotes from Ovid’s The Metamorphsis
“He may thwart our escape
by land or sea” Daedalus
said, “but the sky is surely
open to us. We will go that
way. Minos rules
everything but he does not
rule the heavens.”

Charles de Brun, Daedalus and Icarus, 1645

 So he applied his
thought to new
invention and altered
the natural order of
things.

Johnathan Clarke. Monument to Daedalus.

1993. Norwich, Great Britain.
Daedalus laid down lines of feathers….so
that you might think they had grown like
that, on a slant…then he fastened them…

Ancient Roman relief in Szony, Hungary

 His son Icarus stood
next to him not realizing
that he was handling
things that would
endanger him.

Daedalus and Icarus bas relief in Villa

Albani, Rome 18th century
“Let me warn you,
Icarus to take the
middle way,
in case the moisture
weighs down your wings
if you fly too low, or if
you fly to high the sun
scorches them.”

Augusto Giacomo. Daedalus and Icarus,

1630
 Travel between the
extremes…take the
course I show you.

Wow Comics, The Story of Icarus. Early 20th c.

 While he worked and
issued his warnings the
ageing man’s cheeks
were wet with tears.

Andrea Sacchi. Daedalus and Icarus,

1645.
 Daedalus, lifting upward on his
wings, flew ahead like a bird
leading her fledglings…into the
empty air.

Roger, Brown. The flight of Daedalus and Icarus. Mural. 120

N. LaSalle St., Chicago
Some ploughman,
resting on the
handles of his
plough saw them,
perhaps, and stood
there amazed.

Bruegel the Elder. Landscape with the Fall of

Icarus, 1590-95
 The boy began to
delight in his daring
flight

Ozone, Icarus, 21st century tattoo

 Drawn by desire for the
heavens, soared higher

Henri Matisse. The Fall of Icarus. 1946.

His nearness to the
devouring sun softened
the fragrant wax that
held his wings.

Derek Riggs, album art for Piece of Mind

album, 1983.
 He flailed with bare arms

Antonio Tempesta, The Fall of Icarus, 1606

But losing his oar-like
wings, could not ride the
air.

Peter Paul Reubens, Fall of Icarus, 1636

 Even as his mouth was
calling his father’s
name it vanished into
the dark blue sea.

Rinaldo Palluzi, Icarus, 1959

Daedalus laid the body of
his child to rest.

Rebecca Matte. Icarus and Daedalus. 1922