-
1 of 253523 objects
Aurora and Tithonus c.1705
Oil on canvas | 203.2 x 128.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404754
-
Aurora, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with Tithonus, son of Laomedon and brother of Priam. She gained immortality for him but not youthfulness; hence he is shown here lying on the ground as an old man. Aurora floats above him, half naked on clouds, wearing a crown of roses and holding a chaplet of flowers in her upraised right hand. The three winged putti surrounding her hold a flaring torch, a basket of flowers and an urn; symbolising the dawn's light, its generative power and the dew.
The slightly ponderous style of this work is suggestive of Ricci's work before his English visit, c. 1700-10. The subject of Aurora occurs in the main ceiling fresco by Ricci in the Palazzo Pitti, which is often wrongly identified as Venus and Adonis; that Aurora is the subject is shown by the attributes of the putti, which are the same as in this work.
The painting was cleaned in 1972.Provenance
Acquired in 1762 by George III from Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice (Italian List no 34 as 'Titan and Aurora'); recorded in the Queen's Drawing Room in St James's Palace in 1785 and the King's Bedroom at Buckingham Palace in 1819 (no 820), on both occasions as 'Flora'
-
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
203.2 x 128.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
231.5 x 159.0 x 8.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)