Chariot of Apollo 1700 - 1734

Sir James Thornhill made this drawing, Chariot of Apollo, with pen and brown wash in the late 17th or early 18th century. Here, we see the sun god Apollo soaring across the sky in his chariot, pulled by four horses. An allegorical figure flies below, scattering flowers in his path. Thornhill was an English painter, and he found success creating large-scale decorative schemes for places like St. Paul’s Cathedral. These grand paintings served as powerful visual statements. The classical imagery was often used to evoke England's imperial ambitions. Aristocratic patrons, such as those who commissioned Thornhill, would have been familiar with this visual language, and the display of classical imagery helped to reinforce their social status. To gain a deeper understanding of this drawing, we could explore the cultural significance of classical mythology in the 18th century. We might look at how these images served the interests of the ruling classes in a period of rapid social and political change. Ultimately, the history of art reminds us that aesthetics are always entangled with questions of power.