Landschap met de val van Icarus. NL-HlmNHA 1477 53010794

Icarus is shown falling headlong from the sky, his waxen wings disintegrated by the sun, while his father Daedalus flies steadily below him. In the foreground, shepherds and their goats rest in a rugged valley, seemingly oblivious to the tragedy unfolding in the air above. The composition emphasizes the contrast between the quiet, earthly life of the peasants and the dramatic, high-altitude failure of human ambition.

The story of Icarus served as a central Renaissance allegory for hubris and 'curiositas'—the transgressive desire to seek divine or hidden knowledge beyond human limits. Within Neoplatonism and the emblem tradition, this scene warns against the intellectual pride that leads to a spiritual fall when attempting to reach the 'Divine Light' without proper preparation.