Aurora and Cephalus: M.6-1985

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Aurora and Cephalus

Maker(s)

Entities

Folding fan

Description

Folding fan. Double chickenskin leaf, painted in bodycolour. Right, left and upper edge gilt. Sticks and guards of pierced and carved ivory (18+2). Rivet set is clear pastes. Front: painted overall with Cephalus and Aurora after the fresco by Annibale and Agostino Carracci (1560-1609) in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626) in 1595. reverse: Painted overall with a view of the Tiber and the Ponte Rotto, the ancient Pons Aemilius in Rome. Sticks: three shaped oval cartouches, each containing a chinoiserie scene: a boy holding out a chrysanthemum towards a seated man holding a pipe, with vases and flowering plants on each side. Guards: below the shoulder, a vase amid scrolls and flowers; above, scrolls, flowers and a Chinese figure.

Notes

History note: Colonel Leonard C. Messel (1872-1953); his daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse (1902-1992)

Legal notes

Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and a gift from the Friends of the Fitzwilliam

Measurements and weight

Width: 48.5 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1985-01-28) by Countess of Rosse, Anne

Dating

18th Century, second half#
Circa 1750 - Circa 1780

Note

Aurora, goddess of the Dawn, fell in love with Cephalus, and carried him off in her chariot against his will. After the fresco by Agostino Carracci (1557-1602) on the window wall of the Galleria Farnese in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The frescoes were commissioned in 1595 by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626). On the reverse is a view of the Tiber and the Ponte Rotto, the ancient Pons Aemilius.