'Aurora' by Achille Leonardi, Baroque, Classical, Mythological Oil, Guido Reni, Quirinal, Rome

Details

Description

Signed lower right, 'A. Leonardi' for Achille Leonardi (Italian, 1800-1870), inscribed, '... Roma' and painted circa 1860.

An exceptionally fine … Read more Signed lower right, 'A. Leonardi' for Achille Leonardi (Italian, 1800-1870), inscribed, '... Roma' and painted circa 1860.

An exceptionally fine and detailed, mid-nineteenth century oil after the seventeenth-century, Baroque ceiling fresco by Guido Reni created for the garden house of Rome's Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi.

Painted in 1614 for Cardinal Scipione Borghese for the ceiling of his small summer house, known as the Casino dell’Aurora, next to the Cardinal’s larger palace residence located on the Quirinal Hill in Rome. The fresco represents Aurora, goddess of the dawn, bringing forth a new day as she leads the way for Apollo, god of light, who follows behind in his golden quadriga or four-horse chariot. That Aurora is bringing the dawn is evident through the change in the sky we see between the two gods: a darkish silvery gray before Aurora that turns into a bright, golden light filled sky before Apollo.

Below the edges of the clouds is a distant landscape slowly being illuminated by the brightening dawn. Aurora’s gauzy drapery flutters around her figure as she prepares to drop sprays of newly blossoming flowers onto the landscape below.

Apollo, clothed only in a light purple wrap, is enveloped in a warm, golden halo of light. Hovering between Aurora and Apollo, we see a torch-bearing putto, identified as Phosphorus, an ancient personification of the Morning Star. Elegant female figures, known as Hours, dance beside the chariot, representing the passage of time, with their diaphanous draperies blowing gently in the breeze.

These lovely figures are represented in an ideal manner with flawless physiques and exquisite, ageless beauty. Leonardo's rendition of Reni’s original soft pastel color palette lends an idyllic, mythic quality to this Classical scene. See less