French school

Watermark: none.
Considered at the time of its acquisition as a preliminary study by Francois Perrier for his ceiling fresco depicting Dawn in Her Chariot in the Hôtel de la Vrillière, 1645 (now the Bank of France, Paris), this sheet has not been accepted as autograph by Alvin L. Clark nor is it related to that project.
Initially drafted in brown ink, the composition is gone over in darker brown ink in a campaign that seems to add and clarify details, adjust perspective, and expand the use of drapery. The subject is a slight variation on the more common depictions of Aurora in her chariot, bringing the dawn. Here, Aurora holds the reins of her winged horse, which progresses across a starry sky guided by a youth awkwardly holding a torch and an urn. The putti above scatter flowers from their fists. At far left, a man holding a key stands adjacent to a classical palace. Aurora is leaving the palace of the night, and parting from her lover Tithonus, who was not immortal and is typically shown as an old man, though here he appears smoothed-faced. While we see the horse from below, the chariot is seen in profile, making it unclear if this design was intended for an illusionistic ceiling, as with Guercino's Aurora (1621) or a “quadro riportato”, or easel painting set into a ceiling, as with Guido Reni's Aurora (1614).