Bernard Picart, Cornelis Bloemaert, and others
Sisyphus’s Stone
1729-1732
Scroll
- Artist: Bernard Picart
- Artist: Cornelis Bloemaert
- Artist: Theodor Matham
- Artist: Abraham Jansz. van Diepenbeeck
- Publisher: Zacharias Châtelain
Sisyphus’s Stone
1729-1732
Physical Qualities
Etching and engraving, Sheet: 457 x 285 mm. (18 x 11 1/4 in.)
Plate: 352 x 253 mm. (13 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.)
Image: 345 x 249 mm. (13 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Garrett Collection
Object Number
1946.112.13036
This work shows how the gods punished two kings for their evil deeds by condemning them to eternal suffering in the underworld. The deceptive Sisyphus was forced to push a boulder up a mountain, but each time he reached the top, the boulder would roll back down to the bottom, and he would have to start all over again. Ixion, who murdered his father-in-law, was tied to a wheel that never stopped spinning.
BMA, Jacobs Wing rotation, August 15, 2007- January 29, 2008
Signed: 2
Inscribed: Recto: in plate, lower right: "B. Picart dir."; in plate, lower center: "SISYPHE CONDAMNÉ À ROULER UNE PIERRE SUR LE / HAUT D'UNE MONTAGNE D'OÙ ELLE RETOMBE À L'INSTANT. / Sisyphus's Stone. / Des Gisyphus unaufhörliches Steinwaltzen. / De opgewerkte steen van Sisyphus rolt'telkens te rug."; in plate, at bottom left: "B. PCIart del. 1730."; at bottom left of sheet, in graphite: "61"
Artist
Abraham Jansz. van Diepenbeeck
1595–1674
Flemish, 1596 - 1675
Meet Abraham Jansz. van Diepenbeeck
Publisher
Zacharias Châtelain
1704–1732
Dutch, active in Amsterdam 1705 - 1733
Meet Zacharias Châtelain
