Herbert James Draper
The Lament for Icarus, 1898
Currently housed in London’s Tate Britain…
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Herbert James Draper
The Lament for Icarus, 1898
Currently housed in London’s Tate Britain…
The Velvet Rocket 
Icarus surrounded by naiads. Beautiful painting, thanks Ames :)
Beautiful painting, but how come he still has his wings? The glue melted and they fell off. But it does look better this way.
I noticed the apparent abundance of feathers as well and I am sure that there is a perfectly rational explanation for this. Perhaps the physical properties of the feathers or the wax used on them causes them to lose their “lift” capability before they simply fall off (much as an aircraft with iced wings can plummet from the sky even with its wings perfectly intact) and, therefore, an apparently full set of wings could still cause poor Icarus to plummet to his death? Or perhaps there was perhaps some unknown principle of magnetohydrodynamics at work?
The wings are symbolic of eternal fame/glory/ beauty, as in the myth the wings are torn apart by melted wax, but the painting allows Icarus to live fast and die young, much like modern icon James Dean
Thank you for sharing that interpretation. I like it…