Jean-Honoré Fragonard - The goddess Aurora triumphing over Night

Title: The goddess Aurora triumphing over Night
Artist: Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806)
Date: 1755
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 95 x 131 cm

Fragonard's "Aurora" epitomizes the Rococo style, reflecting the influence of his first master, François Boucher.

The depiction of the Goddess of Dawn is unmistakable, as she is adorned with the morning star atop her head, her hands holding pink flowers—a nod to her Homeric epithet of “rosy fingered.” Accompanied by a small, drowsy putto, she stands amidst swirling mists of nighttime, illuminated by a radiant light emerging from below, casting an ethereal glow over her semi-nude form. Below, shrouded in darkness, lies the figure of Night, still asleep and cloaked in a heavy blue coverlet.