The Three Fates

Schiavone often used coloured paper for his drawings, enhanced with loose, dark and expressive washes of colour. Together, these effects develop the depth and mood of his work. This dark and forbidding drawing shows the Three Fates of Greek myth. The Fates were women who determined the trajectory of human lives. They were Clotho, ‘the spinner’, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, ‘the allotter’, who measured the thread, and Atropos, ‘the inevitable’, who cut the thread, and ended a person’s life. The women are shown with their attributes. These are the spinning wheel, measuring rod and shears, respectively.