This bronze was originally commissioned by the French Government to commemorate the historic aeronautical achievements of Santos-Dumont, the famous Brazilian aeroplane and airship pilot. It was constructed as a monument in Paris and depicted Icarus lifting his wings and rising above the limitations of earthly man. The Farman Company adopted the image because of its early association with aircraft manufacturing. By the twenties, the company also used the image as the mascot for its cars. Colin was retained to produce a variety of these bronzes and also worked on the production of the mascots, which, surprisingly, were produced in England and other countries surrounding France.(1) Georges Colin was a sculptor born in Vincennes, France in 1876. He was a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and later he became a pupil of Valton and Thomas. He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais from 1899. A master craftsman from Athens, Dadedalus was forced to flee the city after murdering his nephew, an artist of even greater skill. Settling in Crete, Daedalus created the wooden cow in which Pasiphae, wife of King Minos, was impregnated by the Cretan bull. To contain her monstrous offspring, the Minotaur, Daedalus built the labyrinth. Furious at the assistance Daedalus had given to Pasiphae, Minos imprisoned him and his son, Icarus, in the labyrinth. They managed to escape by flying away on wings that Daedalus fashioned from feathers and wax. Daedalus counseled his son to fly a middle course, neither too close to the water or too near to the sun, but Icarus soared so high that the heat of the sun melted the wax in his wings. He fell into the Aegean Sea and drowned. After burying his son on the island now called Ikaria, Daedalus flew on safely to Sicily. 1. John J Zolomij, The Motor Car in Art, Automobile Quaterly Publications, 1990, page 121