Gerard de Lairesse: Apollo and Aurora

PD Image: Apollo and Aurora (1671), oil on canvas painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Gerard de Lairesse (1640 or 1641 -1711), dimensions 204 cm x 193 cm (80.31 x 75.98 in), located at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Aurora and Cephalus by Pierre-Narcisse Guerin

Image: Aurora and Cephalus (L'Aurore et Céphale) by French painter (1774-1833) Pierre-Narcisse Guerin, dimensions 2.545 m x 1.860 m, currently in Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

Aurora is the Latin word for dawn, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry, comparable to the Greek goddess Eos. Aurora renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the sun. Aurora appears most often in Latin poetry with one of her mortal lovers. Cephalus, the founding head of a great family that includes Odysseus, was one of the lovers of Aurora/Eos.