Prometheus Bound Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Description of Peter Rubens’ painting "The Chained Prometheus"

Everyone knows the plot of the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus. He was severely punished by Zeus. He was chained to a rock and condemned to eternal suffering. Every day an eagle flew in and pecked his liver, but it grew back the next day. Why did Prometheus deserve such anger? He had secretly given fire to men by Zeus. It was for this that Hephaestus nailed the hero’s body to the ridge of the Caucasus. There he stood for many years.

The theme of Rubens’ painting, The Chained Prometheus, was this mythological story. But Rubens interprets it somewhat differently. We see the sufferer in agony, chained forever to the rocks, and the eagle pecking out his liver. The bird’s paw stands directly on the hero’s face. The painter purposely depicted Prometheus so as not to show the infernal torment that has distorted his face. But the viewer sees an incredibly beautiful muscular body that is incredibly tense.

It is through it that the pain felt by Prometheus is conveyed with maximum force. This is the incredible skill of the artist. The hero tries in every way to use his strength to wriggle out from under the bird. But the strength is not enough, as Prometheus’ hands are restrained by thick chains. Every detail in this painting is important. Everything here conveys the artist’s basic idea of man’s constant struggle, even if he is a prisoner. His spirit rebels and is not defeated.

The painting is incredibly colorful. There is a lot of black: the eagle, the sky, the gloomy rocks. The figure of Prometheus is the center and the brightest on this canvas. For all the gloominess of the colors used, the viewer does not get a sense of despair.

Rubens’ Prometheus struggles even while chained. He is not portrayed as humble and depressed. The viewer has the feeling that for all his suffering, the hero is about to be released, only a little more effort is needed, and the chains will break, and the eagle will be defeated and punished for his long years of suffering.