3-096-016 - "Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: Paul Highnam"/Heritage Images

Phaeton driving the Chariot of the Sun, after 1846. Phaethon, the son of Helios (or Apollo), asks for the privilege of driving his father's chariot for a single day. Despite Helios' fervent warnings and attempts to dissuade him, counting the numerous dangers he would face in his celestial journey and reminding Phaethon that only he can control the horses, the boy is not dissuaded and does not change his mind. He is then allowed to take the chariot's reins; his ride is disastrous, as he cannot keep a firm grip on the horses. As a result, he drives the chariot too close to the Earth, burning it, and too far from it, freezing it. In the end, after many complaints, from the stars in the sky to the Earth itself, Zeus strikes Phaethon with one of his lightning bolts, killing him instantly. Plaster relief believed to be the model for the marble relief that Gibson executed for Earl Fitzwillliam. The composition is one of a pair, its companion piece is 'The Hours leading the Horses of the Sun'. Marble versions of both scenes exist at Fitzwilliam's mansion Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire and in the collection of the National Museums of Wales, Cardiff.