Aurora y Thyton

Aurora and Tithonus at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires depicts the dawn goddess who fell in love with the mortal Tithonus and asked Zeus to grant him immortality—forgetting to ask for eternal youth. Painted around 1650, this early work shows Ricci developing the luminous color and theatrical sweep that would define his mature Venetian Baroque style. Aurora's rosy dawn light radiates across the canvas while the aging Tithonus embodies the tragedy of immortality without youth. The subject was a favorite among Venetian painters for its combination of erotic mythology and philosophical pathos, perfectly suited to ceiling decorations and grand salon paintings for aristocratic palaces.

The mythological scene is rendered with Ricci's characteristic luminous flesh tones and atmospheric sky effects, the dawn setting providing an excuse for the brilliant warm colors that defined his decorative palette.