Apollo and Aurora
by LAIRESSE, Gérard de, Oil on canvas, 205 x 193 cm
Aurora wears a white dress embellished with gold stars, and is “saffron-robed,” as ancient authors specified, referring to the colour of an early morning sky. Her coppery curls descend from a diadem, above which an eight-pointed “morning star” floats obeisantly. Aurora’s pearl necklace and crown recall the dewdrops that distill from her eyes.