Aurora (Artemisia Gentileschi)

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Aurora
Aurora-Gentileschi.jpg
Artist Artemisia Gentileschi
Yearc.1625-1627
Medium Oil 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]

Contents

Subject matter

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

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

  1. 1 2 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