Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan is an oil painting of 1623 by Dirck van Baburen of the Utrecht School, and an example of Baroque chiaroscuro.
| Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Dirck van Baburen |
| Year | 1623 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 202 cm × 184 cm (80 in × 72 in) |
| Location | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
The painting represents a tale from Greco-Roman mythology. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, watches the club-footed blacksmith god, Vulcan, punish the bold and cunning Titan Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals. Prometheus's punishment is to be bound to a rock and to have his liver consumed daily by an eagle, which appears partially at the top left.
The painting mysteriously has two signatures: the first is a clear signature below the right-hand shoulder of Prometheus. During a restoration of the painting, a second signature was discovered at the lower left by his hand.[citation needed]
Prometheus is associated with the Greek creation myth where, in some versions, he creates humans from clay and the stolen fire is to bring them to life. A painting, Adam and Eve, also by Baburen, was sold at auction in 1707 together with the Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan, and one might conjecture that the two works formed a pair, both being illustrations of creation.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ "'Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan' on the Rijksmuseum site". Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ Lilian H. Zirpolo, Historical Dictionary of Baroque Art and Architecture, London, Rowman & Littlefield, 2nd edition, 2018, p. 90
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