SALVIATI, Francesco
Description
The Deception of Ixion, 16th. C.
Black chalk on paper
9 15/16 x 6 13/16"
In Greek mythology King Ixion killed his father-in-law rather than honor the debt owed for his bride. To escape punishment for his crime, Ixion begged Zeus for assistance, as pictured in the lower right of the drawing. Zeus granted him refuge on Mt. Olympus but shortly after he arrived, Ixion made sexual advances towards Hera, Zeus’s wife. Incredulous at Ixion’s reported behavior, Zeus asked Hera to fashion a cloud in her image, which the artist depicts in the top right corner of the drawing. Ixion, overcome with passion, and believing the cloud to be Hera, made love to the cloud figure, the central subject of this drawing. A furious Zeus ordered that Ixion be strapped to a winged, burning wheel for eternity, calling out, “Repay your benefactor frequently with gentle favors in return.”
Date
Creator
SALVIATI, Francesco, b. Italy, 1510 - 1563
Source
Gift of the Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg Feitelson Arts Foundation
Identifier
1985.135