This sculpture relates to the greek myth of Icarus. Icarus was the son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus and Icarus had been imprisoned within the walls of the Labyrinth, but they wanted to escape. Daedalus made two pairs of wings of feathers held together with wax. He cautioned his son that flying too near the sun would cause the wax to melt. But Icarus did not heed his father’s warning. The feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death. The Myth is often used to signify the folly of hubris. The sculpture depicts the moment just before the end of his fall.