How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to mankind. Here he is holding a torch defiantly in the sky and looking heavenwards at the Chariot of the Sun. A male nude, with his back to us and sitting on Earth, awaits being restored to life. Prometheus was later punished by Jupiter by being chained to a rock and having his liver (which renewed each day) torn out by an eagle. Bottalla studied painting in Rome and one of his patrons there gave him the flattering nickname 'il Raffaellino' (little Raphael). He moved to Genoa in the early 1640s and began work on the monochrome frescoes in the Palazzo Ayrolo Negrone, but died before finishing them. This work is part of a series painted in oil and distemper, known in Genoa as 'succhi d'erbe' (juices of plants), in order to look like a tapestry.
Title
Prometheus Stealing Fire from the Chariot of the Sun
Medium
distemper on herringbone canvas
Measurements
H 366 x W 72.5 cm
Accession number
1257080.1
Acquisition method
bequeathed by Ralph Bankes, 1981
Work type
Painting
