The Phaethon tondo is one of a series of engravings known as The Four Disgracers (also called Falls) – four figures from Greek mythology who defied the gods for which they were punished in the form of a fall. The other three sheets of the series depict Icarus, Tantalus (1588, the only plate to be dated) and Ixion. Phaethon was the son of the god Helios. Phaethon was showing off his divine origin to his friends, which he wished to prove by persuading his father to let him drive the sun chariot drawn by four fiery steeds across the heavens. However, he soon lost control and the runaway horses exited the trajectory, nearly knocking down the cope of heaven. Then the chariot came too close to the earth, setting it on fire. To prevent further damage, Jupiter knocked down Phaethon with a bolt of lighting, hurling him into the river Eridonos. The scene is executed in perfect, three−dimensional illusion, the youth’s body appears to plunge any moment into the viewer’s own space. The bottom part of the tondo shows a river and the earth with cities ablaze, all of this veiled by remarkable aerial perspective, rendered in the delicate engraving technique.
