Der Streitwagen der Aurora

Aurora, in her chariot, is accompanied by the Hours and heralded by Apollo; Time is on the right. Also recognizable are Ceres, with a sheaf of wheat, and Bacchus, wearing a crown of vine leaves. The sketch may have been presented as a proposal by Tiepolo for the decoration of a ceiling in the Palacio Real in Madrid. Tiepolo was summoned to Spain in 1762 to decorate the throne room; a ceiling on this theme was painted in the queen's bedroom in 1763 by the artist's German rival, Anton Raphael Mengs.