Artwork Page for Aurora and Cephalus

Details / Information for Aurora and Cephalus

Aurora and Cephalus

c.1810

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson

(French, 1767–1824)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 34.9 x 29.9 x 7 cm (13 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 22.8 x 16.8 cm (9 x 6 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Painting and Drawing Society of The Cleveland Museum of Art 2002.101
Public Domain
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Location
202 French Neoclassical Decorative Arts
Print
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Did You Know?

This myth subverts typical gender dynamics: usually a man captures a woman, but in this story the trope reversed.

Description

The goddess of the dawn, Aurora, fell in love with the shepherd Cephalus. She eventually seized him at daybreak, bringing him to the heavens while he slept—the scene Girodet has painted here. Later, missing his wife, Procris, Cephalus begs to return. Aurora agrees, giving him a magic spear that kills every target, including his wife, when he mistakes her for an animal in the brush.
A vertically oriented oil painting is composed of brushy layers of muted browns, at the center of which a nude Aurora and Cephalus, figures with light skin tones, float. Aurora leans over a reclining Cephalus, her long hair falling forward as a white veil billows under a bright star. Left, a winged child reaches toward Aurora. Dark, swirling clouds fill the background and lower half, a red cloth draped behind Cephalus.

Aurora and Cephalus

c.1810

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson

(French, 1767–1824)
France, 19th century

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