Plate with Sol in His Chariot

Description The Roman sun-god Sol drives a chariot drawn by two winged horses through a dark sky studded with gold stars. The plate is from a series decorated with mythological representations of the planets. The composition is based on an engraving of 1542 by Aeneas Vico (1523-67), but De Court shows his own subtle sense of design in the strapwork (the pattern that looks like interwoven straps) around the edge.

Provenance Sale, London, March 5, 1855, no. 1477; Ralph Bernal, London, 1855, by purchase; Octavius E. Coope, Brentwood, Essex, by purchase; Sale, London, Christie's, March 3, 1910, no. 45; Harding, New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters