Aurora Triumphans

Aurora Triumphans was donated to the museum in 1928 by the Russell-Cotes family. The painting tells the story of Aurora, goddess of Dawn, overcoming the bonds of night. She is in the right-hand corner, and is nude, with carefully draped ropes of pink roses, her body is white, a symbol of goodness, purity and spirituality. Three angels with pink wings and wearing golden tunics are blowing their trumpets to announce the beginning of a new day.

On the lower left of the picture is Nix, the goddess of Night. She is giving way to Aurora, only to return at the end of the day. In the left-hand corner of the painting are initials EBJ, 1886, meant to be Edward Burne-Jones, the famous Pre-Raphaelite painter. However, the initials are fake, Aurora Triumphans was painted by Evelyn de Morgan.