The Death of Hippolytus

An independent exploration of a theme that Poussin did not treat in a painting, the subject of this highly baroque sheet derives from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Cast out of Athens by his father after rejecting the advances of his stepmother, Hippolytus's chariot is menaced by a bull sent by Poseidon. After his chariot crashes and Hippolytus is dragged to his death, his friends attempt to regain control of the horses and disentangle the hero's body from the wreckage.