RENI, Guido
(b. 1575, Calvenzano, d. 1642, Bologna)

Aurora

1614
Fresco
Casino dell'Aurora, Palazzo Pallavicini, Rome

During Guido Reni's second stay in Rome he directly tackled themes from classical Antiquity. While this composition was openly derived from classical art, it was meant in the spirit of purest love and has a genuine if rather insipid beauty.

Though a ceiling decoration, it is composed in the form of a frieze as if painted on a wall. Here the artist was rebelling against the spatial researches which at that time were exciting such passionate interest in Lanfranco and Pietro da Cortona.