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Description: | A two-figure group. On the left, a female figure, Aurora, draped only from the waist downwards and wearing a star on her forehead. She steps forward over stylised clouds as she raises both hands, in which she holds flowers, over her head. On the right, Zephyr, a young male figure with butterfly wings, nude but for a fig leaf. He encircles Aurora's waist with his arms. Additional Information: The title, which is original, is odd. In classical mythology, Zephyr, or Zephyrus, was the Greek god of the west wind, his Roman equivalent being Favonius. Aurora, goddess of the dawn, was, on the other hand, Roman, her Greek prototype being Eos. In Greek mythology, Eos (Aurora) was married to Astraeus and their union produced the wind gods, including Zephyrus. The present subject would appear to be amatory, but there is no known source for a union between mother/son Aurora/Zephyrus. Although Aurora is indeed sometimes portrayed scattering flowers, as she is perhaps doing here, so is Flora (or, in Greek, Chloris), the goddess of flowers to whom Zephyr was married. In his Fasti, Ovid relates that when Zephyr first saw and desired Chloris she, being alarmed by his approach, fled, but was caught by him. As James Hall has pointed out, this is the scene that Botticelli depicts on the right of his Primavera. The subject is, then, more likely intended to be Zephyr and Flora. | Subjects: | Statue | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Sculptor: Marshall, William Calder | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8246... | Go to resource |
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Aurora
This painting was originally one…
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