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Aurora (Artemisia Gentileschi)

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Aurora
ArtistArtemisia Gentileschi
Yearc.1625-1627
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions218 cm × 146 cm (86 in × 57 in)
LocationPrivate collection, Rome

Aurora is a c.1625-1627 painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, depicting the Roman goddess of dawn. It is part of a private collection in Rome.[1]

Subject matter

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In Roman mythology, the goddess Aurora rises every morning to signal the arrival of the Sun by coloring the sky, which was used in the period as a metaphor for creativity and beauty.[1] Her contemporary Pierre Dumonstier created a drawing of Artemisia's hand holding a brush which refers to the "hands of Aurora",[2] praising both her beauty as well as her skill as a colorist.[3]

Provenance

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The painting passed through the Arrighetti family before arriving on the art market in Florence in 1974.[4] Bissell believes the patron was Niccolò Arrighetti, associate of Michelangelo Buonarroti,[5] who had commissioned Gentileschi to paint Allegory of Inclination a decade earlier.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Locker 2015, p. 113.
  2. ^ "Right hand of Artemisia Gentileschi holding a brush. 1625 Black and red chalk". British Museum. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  3. ^ Locker 2015, p. 5.
  4. ^ Bissell 1999, p. 220.
  5. ^ Bissell 1999, p. 221.

Sources

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  • Bissell, R. Ward (1999). Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art : Critical Reading and Catalogue Raisonné. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271017877.
  • Locker, Jesse (2015). Artemisia Gentileschi : the Language of Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300185119.