Prometheus by Briton Rivière: The Titan and the Eagle

In this article

A Titan chained to a cliff

In Greek myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. As punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock where an eagle came each day to eat his liver. Briton Rivière painted him bound high on a dark cliff above the sea.

The painting dates from 1889 and belongs to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

A body stretched on the rock

Prometheus chained against a cliff — A body stretched on the rock.

Prometheus hangs against the cliff face, arms raised, his body pale against the dark stone. His head is turned upward, enduring.

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The eagle waits

Dark eagle perched on the rock above — The eagle waits.

Above him, the great dark eagle perches on the rock, waiting. Rivière, the animal painter, made the bird the true sign of the torment.

Questions about Prometheus

Why was Prometheus punished?

He stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind.

Where is it?

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

What does the eagle do?

In the myth, it eats his liver every day.

When was it painted?

In 1889.

Sources and image credit

Wikimedia Commons: Prometheus, Ashmolean Museum

Public-domain reproduction of Prometheus (1889). Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.