Aurora

Italian artist Guido Reni painted this Aurora in 1614 on the ceiling of the Casino adjacent to the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi in Rome. The fresco shows the goddess of dawn in a billowing golden dress, leading Apollo's horse-drawn chariot across the sky. A chain of dancing female figures, the Hours, surrounds them while a torch-bearing putto (representing the Morning Star) hovers between Aurora and Apollo.

Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a major art patron, commissioned the work. The composition recalls Annibale Carracci's Triumph of Bacchus at the Farnese Palace, but Reni's version shows more classical restraint, with fewer figures and less emotional intensity. The Hours echo the Borghese Dancers, an ancient Roman relief from the Cardinal's collection.

The fresco remains in situ at the Casino dell'Aurora Pallavicini in Rome. The privately owned villa opens to the public on the first day of each month (except January), one of Rome's hidden treasures.