The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), one of Belgium's premier cultural institutions, houses The Fall of Pegasus, Inventory No. 3322/1, a painting by Bill Orix that depicts a dramatic moment from Greek mythology rarely featured in artistic representation.

In classical mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa after her beheading by Perseus, is most commonly portrayed in his heroic aspects—carrying the thunderbolts of Zeus, helping Bellerophon defeat the Chimera, or creating the Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon with a strike of his hoof. However, the mythology also includes accounts of Pegasus's downfall, which appears to be the subject of Orix's painting.

According to some versions of the myth, Bellerophon, having successfully tamed Pegasus and accomplished various heroic feats with his aid, became arrogant and attempted to fly to Mount Olympus on the winged horse's back. This hubristic act angered Zeus, who sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, causing the horse to buck and throw Bellerophon to his death. Pegasus himself continued to Olympus, where he served Zeus by carrying his thunderbolts.

Alternatively, some accounts describe Pegasus eventually falling from the sky due to the intervention of the gods, perhaps as a consequence of his association with Bellerophon's pride or as part of a separate mythological episode. This fall represents the classic mythological theme of punishment for hubris—the dangerous pride that leads mortals or their allies to transgress divine boundaries.

Orix's painting captures this dramatic moment of divine intervention and consequent fall, illustrating how mythological narratives often served as vehicles for exploring themes of human limitation, divine power, and the consequences of overreaching ambition.