Eos and Tithonus

Eos, the goddess of Dawn (the latin Aurora) fell in love with the young, handsome Tithonus, the son of Laomeda, King of Troy, by whom she had two sons. She begged Zeus to grant him immortality; but Tithonus grew old, as she had not asked for him to be granted eternal youth. Thus she began to escape his bed earlier and earlier. The present picture depicts the departure of Eos, leaving the aged Tithonus who lifts his hand to acknowledge her departure. In a more general way, the painting illustrates one of the recurring passages of Homer's Odyssey, e.g. V, 1-5 (in Alexander Pope's translation): 'The saffron morn, with early blushes spread,/Now rose refulgent from Tithonus's bed; /With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,/And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light.'

The present lot appears to be unpublished; the pose of Eos recalls that of Coronis in Carpione's Neptune and Coronis at Dresden (see G.M. Pilo, Carpioni, Venice, 1961, p. 93 and fig. 132, there considered to be a work of the artist's maturity).