3-098-593 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Lampecia and Phoebe (fable), 1920. Alternative title: Lampetia and Phaethusa (fable). Depiction of the mythological fable of Lampetia and her sister, shepherdesses of their father the Sun's flocks, who, after the death of their brother Phaethon by Jupiter's lightning, are transformed into white poplars in the waters of a marsh. Cycnus, Phaethon's close friend, is also transformed into a swan, overcome with grief, seeing himself in his new form on the water. A fantastical and mysterious landscape on the shores of the lake is enveloped by a dense grove of bare, twisted trees. Among the branches, the desperate figures of the girls, transformed by grief, are lost, and the faint glimmer of an invisible sky barely peeks through. This type of shadowy woodland, with its somewhat ghostly and oppressive appearance, was a particular favourite of the artist.