Daedalus

Artist Peter Malone (American, born 1950)

Date2002

MediumOil on canvas, with wood

DimensionsOverall: 26 × 80 1/16in. (66 × 203.4cm)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Credit LineAnonymous Gift

Object number2003.8

On View

On view

Collections

21st-Century Paintings

Label TextIn ancient Greek mythology, the story of Daedalus, Icarus, Theseus and the Minotaur is a wild affair. Daedalus was a clever architect who designed the Labyrinth (a maze) for King Minos, who ruled the island of Crete. Minos imprisoned the ferocious Minotaur, a half-human/half-bull, in the Labyrinth. When Minos’ only son died in Athens, the King exacted revenge by capturing the state and demanding the sacrifice of fourteen young men and women to the Minotaur. When the Athenian hero Theseus was to be sacrificed, Minos’ daughter Ariadne begged Daedalus to show him the secret of escape, which he did. When Minos discovered Daedalus’ treachery, he banished him and his son, Icarus, to the Labyrinth. Daedalus conspired to escape by flying out of the maze and off the island. He fashioned wings of feathers and wax, but warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, for the wax would melt. Alas, the rash youth did not heed his father’s advice and, in the throes of freedom, flew too high and eventually plunged into the sea. The Icarus myth is a cautionary tale about humankind’s aspirations and limitations. Mary E. Murray Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art