Design for a ceiling painting depicting the Fall of Phaeton

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Artist/Maker	Thornhill (artist)
Place of origin	Britain

This drawing is a design for an unidentified ceiling. The central oval depicts the Fall of Phaeton, a popular Greek myth that was famously recounted in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Thornhill sketched the initial design in red chalk, bringing out the details in pen and ink, emphasising the shadows in wash and heightening the highlights with white chalk.

Object details

Categories	Prints Ornament Prints Designs
Object type	Drawing
Title	Design for a ceiling painting depicting the Fall of Phaeton
Materials and techniques	Pen and Ink Red Chalk Paper Drawing
Brief description	Drawing, Design for a ceiling painting by Sir James Thornhill, pen and ink, wash and red chalk, heightened with white, early 18th century
Physical description	Drawing in red chalk gone over in pen and ink with wash, heightened in white. A design for a ceiling painting at an unknown location.
Dimensions	Height: 40cm (Note: Taken from Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1911, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1912) Width: 22.2cm (Note: Taken from Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1911, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1912)
Object history	Provenance: Purchased from Messrs Obach in 1911
Summary	This drawing is a design for an unidentified ceiling. The central oval depicts the Fall of Phaeton, a popular Greek myth that was famously recounted in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Thornhill sketched the initial design in red chalk, bringing out the details in pen and ink, emphasising the shadows in wash and heightening the highlights with white chalk.
Bibliographic reference	Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1911, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1912
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	E.526-1911

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Record created	June 30, 2009
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O779287/design-for-a-ceiling-painting-drawing-thornhill/

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