The Chariot of Aurora

c. 1734

The chariot of Aurora, goddess of the dawn, ascends into the sky to begin a new day. Sunflowers turn toward the light, while a bat flees with the darkness. A winged boy, or putto, awakens Aurora’s brother, the sun god Helios. The broad brushstrokes and small scale of this canvas suggest that it was made as a sketch for a larger painting. Its subject matter would have been perfectly appropriate for the ceiling of a bedroom in an opulent eighteenth-century home.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	19 7/16 x 19 1/8 in. (49.3 x 48.6 cm)
Object Number	1955.876
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Chariot of Aurora, c. 1734, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.876

Select Bibliography

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Four & Exhibit Seven. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1958. Birmingham (Ala.) Museum of Art.. The Tiepolos: Painters to Princes and Prelates. Jan. 8-Feb. 19, 1978; Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Mass., March 19-May 7, 1978.. 1978.. Fernandez, Rafael. A Scene of Light and Glory: Approaches to Venice. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth. Giambattista Tiepolo: Master of the Oil Sketch. Sept. 18-Dec. 12, 1993.. 1993.. Morassi, Antonio. "Some 'modelli' and other unpublished works by Tiepolo" The Burlington Magazine 97, no. 622 (January 1955): 212. Pallucchini, Ann, intro. by Guido Piovene. L'Opera completa di Giambattista Tiepolo. Milan: Rizzoli. 1968. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Morassi, Antonio. A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings of G. B. Tiepolo. London: Phaidon Press. 1962.

Provenance

[Rodolfo Subert, Milan, sold to Boussod, Valadon & Cie., Paris, 10 April 1912];[1][1] [Boussod, Valadon & Cie., Paris, sold to M. Knoedler & Co., Paris, 12 October 1917]; [M. Knoeder & Co, Paris, sold to Clark, 29 March 1918]; Robert Sterling Clark (1918-1955); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. [1][1] Boussod, Valadon& Cie. stock book entry notes that the firm purchased the painting in joint account with Wildenstein, Paris.