John Runciman
The Fall of Phaeton (ca.1767-68, National Gallery of Scotland)
In ancient myth Phaeton was the handsome child of the sun god Phoebus and Clymene who, growing vain, claimed from his father the right to drive his chariot for a day. Losing control of the vehicle, he plunged to earth spectacularly. Runciman probably took the subject from the ancient author Ovid’s Metamorphoses, an important source of subject matter for artists.