A pen and ink drawing of a preliminary design for the ceiling painting of the bedchamber of George and Caroline, when they were Prince and Princess of Wales, at Hampton Court. The animated mythological scene probably represents the repeated yet unsuccessful attempts of Aurora, goddess of the dawn, to seduce the dashing Greek prince Cephalus.

Sir James Thornhill, father-in-law of William Hogarth, was a successful British painter of decorative interior schemes in the early eighteenth century. His commissions include the ceiling of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich.