Aurora quitting Tithonus in her Chariot
after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666)
Category
Art / Prints
Date
Unknown
Materials
Engraving on paper
Measurements
610 x 991 mm
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
NT 930303
Summary
Print, engraving, Aurora quitting Tithonus in her Chariot (after Guercino). Inscribed in Latin: RORE MADENS MULTOQUE RENIDENS FLORE ROSARUM/ NOCTEM CIMMERIIS ABIGENS AURORA SUBANTRIS/ EGREDITUR THALMO GELIDUM ASPERNATA MARITUM/ INCASSUNM HEU FORMOSA IN CONSUGE SUSPIRANTEM / The subject is Aurora in her chariot leaving Tithonus (not Apollo) scattering flowers on her way. The maidens are the Horae (representing hours or seasons). After the fresco in the Casino dell'Aurora in the Villa Ludovisi. As related in Homer’s epic Greek poem, Iliad (XI), Aurora, the goddess of dawn, kidnapped four men, Cephalus, Clitus, Ganymede and Tithonus, to be her lovers. Ganymede was later stolen from her by Zeus, disguised as an eagle, to be his cup bearer and Cephalus longed to return to his mortal wife Procris, so Aurora finally released him. Her favourite was Tithonus, son of Laomedon and brother of Priam. Zeus granted him immortality but, cruelly, not youthfulness. Here he is shown here sitting on a cloud as an old man whilst Aurora drives away from him in her chariot. Winged putti bestow flowers, symbolising the sun's generative power and three maidens precede her, one of whom holds an urn, symbolising the dawn's dew and referring to the death of one of their sons, Memnon, who was killed by the mighty Greek warrior, Achilles, in the Trojan war. Aurora is so distraught by his death that her tears cover the earth as she flies across the skies every morning.
Marks and inscriptions
(in Latin)
Makers and roles
after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666) , artist