Le départ de Phaéton ("Phaeton's departure") by Jean Jouvenet

The painter, also known as Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet, "the Great", was born in Rouen in 1644. He came from a large family of artists, of which he was the most brilliant representative. In 1661, at just 17 years old, he moved to Paris and became a pupil of Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), who was then working on major commissions for the king. Jouvenet worked on major decorative projects at the Château de Saint-Germain, the Galerie des Tuileries and Versailles.

Although he never went to Italy, his art encountered Italian influence thanks to Le Brun. Accepted into the Royal Academy in 1675 upon presentation of Esther et Assuérus (Musée de Bourg-en-Bresse), Jean Jouvenet painted mythological and decorative scenes, not only for Versailles but also for private mansions in Paris. He excelled in the execution of ceilings, which enabled him to play, as here, with the effects of perspective. He painted many them for private mansions in Paris, as well as for the Parlement de Bretagne, in Rennes, in 1695.  This "Departure of Phaeton", preserved in the Château de Maisons, is one of these commissions by private individuals for their castles, in this case Jean de Longueil, probably after the death of his father René, around 1677. From 1687 onwards, Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet was frequently commissioned by Louis-François I de Bourbon, Prince de Conti (1717-1776). Mazarin also commissioned him to decorate the Château de Véretz (1690).

The story of the unfortunate Phaeton, which plays an important role in Ovid's Metamorphoses (1st century AD), is the subject of abundant iconography. The story of his fall, and not, as here, his ride in the chariot of the Sun, is particularly well represented. Since the Renaissance, his story has been used as an example of the perils of being presumptuous. Phaeton, son of Clymene and Phoebus, believes he is of divine descent. He goes to the palace of his father, the Sun, to ask for proof of his origins. The Sun grants him the right to drive his chariot for a day. The fiery horses soar into the sky, and Phaeton quickly loses control of his carriage as it dashes towards Earth, setting fire to everything in its path. Phaeton dies, struck down by the wrath of Zeus.

An undated preliminary drawing for this painting is kept at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven). The gestural style of Charles le Brun, himself inspired by Rubens, influenced Jouvenet's style. He creates theatrical effects through the movement of drapery, while maintaining a freshness of tone. This type of emotional treatment was highly appreciated by the king. The figure of the horse is particularly remarkable here, expressing the animal's fieriness and almost madness.

The story of Phaeton has had a profound effect on people's minds, to the point of engendering famous literary metaphors. One thinks of the spirit-horse described by Montaigne in his essay De l'oisiveté (I, 8). In the course of his personal experience of "otium" (leisure), he compares his mind to an "escaped horse" that generates "chimeras and fantastical monsters, one upon the other, without order, and without purpose". Hence the need to take up the pen, to resume his thoughts with "bridle in hand". The bridle metaphor is also explicitly used by Descartes in his Meditations on Metaphysics (1641): "My mind is a wanderer who delights in leading me astray, and who cannot yet bear to be held within the proper bounds of truth. Let's let loose of his bridle once more...”

Antoine Schnapper and Christine Gouzi, Jean Jouvenet 1644-1717 et la peinture d'histoire à Paris, Paris, Arthena, 2010.