Hephaestus, Bia and Crato Securing Prometheus on Mount Caucasus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus, a Titan, created the first man from clay and stole fire from the gods to give to humankind. Zeus, father of the gods, punished him by having him chained to a rock where an eagle descended each day to feed on his liver. Zeus is depicted in the top right corner with the eagle. Fuseli has taken the figure of Hephaestus (Vulcan) from the executioner’s pose in Andrea del Sarto’s Decapitation of St John. In Greek mythology, Prometheus’ punishment was seen by many to prefigure the Crucifixion, and he also stood as a symbol for the artist who receives from heaven the fire of creative inspiration.

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