Aurora abducting Cephalus

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

In this lively oil sketch, Rubens experiments with ideas for the design and composition of one of a series of paintings on a hunting theme commissioned by Philip IV of Spain to decorate his hunting lodge, Torre de la Parade, just outside Madrid. Rubens’s assistants would have used the sketch as a model from which they could complete the full-scale picture. Diana, the goddess of hunting, gave the huntsman Cephalus a magic dog and spear, both shown by his side here as he reclines beneath a tree, shaded from the light. Lost in love at first sight, Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, steps down from her golden chariot and runs towards the handsome young man. Rubens has captured her eager rush towards Cephalus, who sits up, his arms outstretched, apparently eager to go with her.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Aurora abducting Cephalus

Date

about 1636-7

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 30.8 x W 48.5 cm

Accession number

NG2598

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue