Aurora and Cephalus
Maker: Unknown
Folding fan. Double chickenskin leaf, painted in bodycolour. Right, left and upper edge gilt. Sticks and guards of pierced and carved ivory (18+2). Rivet set is clear pastes. Front: painted overall with Cephalus and Aurora after the fresco by Annibale and Agostino Carracci (1560-1609) in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626) in 1595. reverse: Painted overall with a view of the Tiber and the Ponte Rotto, the ancient Pons Aemilius in Rome. Sticks: three shaped oval cartouches, each containing a chinoiserie scene: a boy holding out a chrysanthemum towards a seated man holding a pipe, with vases and flowering plants on each side. Guards: below the shoulder, a vase amid scrolls and flowers; above, scrolls, flowers and a Chinese figure.
History note: Colonel Leonard C. Messel (1872-1953); his daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse (1902-1992)
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and a gift from the Friends of the Fitzwilliam
Width: 48.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (1985-01-28) by Countess of Rosse, Anne
18th Century, second half#
Circa
1750
-
Circa
1780
Aurora, goddess of the Dawn, fell in love with Cephalus, and carried him off in her chariot against his will. After the fresco by Agostino Carracci (1557-1602) on the window wall of the Galleria Farnese in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The frescoes were commissioned in 1595 by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626). On the reverse is a view of the Tiber and the Ponte Rotto, the ancient Pons Aemilius.
Leaf
composed of
bodycolour
( polychrome)
chicken skin
gilt
Sticks+guards
composed of
ivory
Guards
Length 29.1 cm
Accession number: M.6-1985
Primary reference Number: 117592
Old object number: DR 2/17
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Aurora and Cephalus" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/117592 Accessed: 2024-11-05 23:16:14
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/117592
|title=Aurora and Cephalus
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 23:16:14|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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