=Questions to arouse interest.= What goddess does this represent? Whom
is she leading? Upon what do they rest? Over what are they passing? What
has Aurora in her hands? Toward whom is she looking? In what is Apollo
riding? How many horses has he? What has the cherub in his hand? Which
way does the flame blow? why? What makes you think they are moving? In
what direction do their garments blow? Who painted this picture? Why do
you like it?
=Original Picture=: Pavilion of the Rospigliosi Palace, Rome, Italy.
=Artist=: Guido Reni (gwē’dō rā’nē).
=Birthplace=: Bologna, Italy.
=Dates=: Born, 1575; died, 1642.
=The story of the picture.= Imagine yourself in that far-famed city of
Rome, driving through its white streets to the great Quirinal Palace to
see the original of our picture. The Quirinal, a very large and very
ordinary looking building, has been the scene of many interesting
events, and is always used as the meeting place for the cardinals who
elect the pope. Our drive ends here, but it is only the beginning of our
journey. After a delightful walk through a courtyard so completely
surrounded by high stone walls that we should never have guessed its
existence, we come to another palace. This palace is much more
beautiful, although not so large. It is called the Rospigliosi Palace
because it has always belonged to a family of that name. Then we pass on
through a beautiful garden of magnolias until we reach the pavilion or
casino of the palace, where we find our picture.
There are several rooms in this pavilion, but it is the middle room
which holds our attention, for it is up on the ceiling of this room that
we see Aurora, goddess of the morning, leading the way for the fiery
steeds of Apollo, the sun god. As we enter, such a glow of color fills
the room that we know instinctively this must be the place. First, we
see Aurora herself, flying ahead, scattering the clouds of night and
showering roses and dewdrops over the sleeping earth. She looks back
toward Apollo, the sun god, to see if he is following her on his journey
around the heavens in his chariot of the sun. The horses are restless
and eager and it takes a steady hand to guide them.
Some idea of the difficulties attending such a journey may be gained
from the Greek story of Phaëthon. According to this story, Apollo had a
son named Phaëthon. One day the boy came to him, complaining that the
other boys made fun of him when he told them who his father was. They
said they did not believe that a boy who could do nothing at all could
be the son of the mighty Apollo. This made the father very angry, and
when Phaëthon asked him to let him do something that should prove to the
world that he was Apollo’s son, Apollo told the boy he would give him
permission to do whatever he asked.
The boy quickly asked permission to drive the sun chariot for one day.
But this request alarmed Apollo, who said, “None but myself may drive
the flaming car of day,—not even Jupiter, whose terrible right arm
drives the thunderbolts.”
He urged his son to take back his request before it was too late,
warning him it would prove his destruction. But the boy was only the
more anxious to drive, and held his father to his promise.
Then Apollo told Phaëthon of the journey. “The first part of the way,”
he said, “is so very steep that, although the horses start out in the
best possible condition, they can hardly climb it; the next part is so
high up in the heavens that I dare not look down upon the earth and sea
below, lest I grow dizzy and fall; the last part of the journey is the
most difficult of all, because the road descends rapidly and it is hard
to guide the horses. And all this time,” Apollo went on, “the heavens
are turning around and carrying the stars with them.”
But even as he spoke, Aurora threw open the cloud curtains which hid the
earth, and there appeared the road upon which she cast her roses while
beckoning to the eager boy. Hardly listening to his father’s anxious
warnings, Phaëthon jumped into the golden chariot, grasped the reins of
the four fiery steeds, and off they started.
At first he remembered what Apollo had said, and was careful, but he
soon grew reckless, driving at full speed. The horses, knowing it was
not their master’s hand, took the bits between their teeth and were soon
out of his control. For a time they followed the road, but when that was
lost they began to descend toward the earth so rapidly it seemed as if
they would be dashed to pieces. Then up again they started in reckless,
dizzy flight. At times they came so close to fields and woods as to
scorch and blacken them. Other fields they did not pass, and these were
frostbitten.
Then a great wail of complaint went up from the earth. This cry was
heard by Jupiter, the most powerful of the gods, who, looking earth-ward
and discovering the cause of all this trouble, was very angry. With his
terrible right arm he drove a thunderbolt at the reckless youth, and in
an instant Phaëthon fell from the chariot headlong into the sea. The
horses, finding themselves free, returned to Apollo, and never since
then has any hand but his been permitted to guide them.
The Greeks declared that the great desert of Sahara in Africa is the
place where the sun’s chariot scorched the earth, and that it was then
that the African negroes were burned black. Phaëthon’s boy friend, who
was constantly diving down into the water trying to recover his body,
was turned into a swan, and Phaëthon’s weeping sisters were changed into
poplar trees.
In our picture we see Apollo holding the reins, accompanied by the Hours
and preceded by Aurora and the cherub torch-bearer or morning star. They
seem to be moving rapidly on their way, borne up by the clouds. The sky
is a brilliant, golden yellow, and its fleecy clouds are tinged with
purple. The graceful figures of the Hours are each represented in pale
or brighter-colored draperies according to the time of day to which they
belong. Aurora herself is clothed in rainbow hues, her draperies flying
with her swift progress. Far below we see the land and sea, wrapped in
slumber, awaiting the coming of the dawn.
=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= Where is the
original painting of the “Aurora”? What goddess does it represent? What
is the Greek myth concerning her? What part has Apollo in this picture?
How many horses does he drive? How are the Hours represented? What does
the cherub carrying a torch represent? In what direction does the flame
of the torch blow? Why is Apollo’s journey so difficult? Who was
Phaëthon? What did he ask of Apollo? Why did he wish to do this? Why was
Apollo alarmed? Tell about Phaëthon’s journey, and what happened to him.
Upon what does the chariot seem to rest? Over what are they passing?
What colors did the artist use in this painting?
=To the Teacher=: