Dawn (Eos)
Aurora (Eos) was the Titan goddess of the dawn. She rose up into the sky from the River Okeanos each morning scattering the dark mists of night with her rosy fingers. Eos was closely identified with Hemera, the goddess of the day.

"And Theia was subject in love to Hyperion and bare great Helios (Sun) and clear Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn) who shine upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods
who live in the wide heaven." - Hesiod, Theogony 371

 
  Inspired by William Bouguereau’s L’Aurore 1881
Translated title: Dawn
Oil on canvas 84 5/8 x 42 1/8 inches (215 x 107 cm)
Birmingham Museum of Art
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

© William Pitcher 2006

 

36x54 inches pigmented ink print on canvas with several layers of varnish. The actual image size is 39x57 wrapped around the edges of heavy-duty stretcher bars . Meticulous attention has been paid to detail (see the crop below).

Typically, each image consists of 15-20 photographic pieces and countless layers. Even working with PhotoShop's large file format (which allows me to save files larger than the 2 gigabyte limit) work is spread across several files until I can amalgamate and flatten components.

 
This 100% crop shows detail in a 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch area of the canvas.
2 1/4 sq. inches - 0.1 % of the surface


 

Hymns to Dawn
Aurora is the first of all to wake;
She tramples over transitory night
The mighty Goddess, bringer of the light,
Beholding every thing from Heaven’s height,
The ever youthful, all reviving Dawn,
To every invocation She comes first.

-Adapted from a Vedic hymn to Ushas

“Hail, gentle Dawn! mild blushing goddess, hail!
Rejoiced I see thy purple mantle spread
O’er half the skies; gems pave thy radiant way,
And orient pearls from every shrub depend.

-Owen Meredith 1831-1891

 

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