Selene (1880)by Albert Aublet (French, 1841–1938)A pale figure floats through a clouded night sky, her back arched, arms and legs wrapped around the crescent of the moon itself. Below her, purple mountains rise from ice-blue water. Above her, the stars are fading. At the horizon, the first pink light of dawn is beginning to spread — the light of her brother Helios, arriving to take her place.In Greek mythology, Selene was the goddess of the moon — not a personification of moonlight, but the moon itself, driving her silver chariot across the sky each night. She is distinct from Artemis and Hecate, with whom she is sometimes conflated: Selene is the celestial body, the source, the thing itself. Her most famous myth is her love for the shepherd Endymion, whom she asked Zeus to grant eternal sleep so she could visit him each night on the mountain where he lay dreaming.Albert Aublet was a French Academic painter known for his technically accomplished, atmospherically rich canvases. He lived to ninety-seven — long enough to see the world he painted become history. His Selene captures the goddess at the moment of transition: the night ending, the moon descending, the figure of the divine caught between darkness and the coming day.Rectangle Canvas WrapGallery-quality canvas with fade-resistant inks and a 1.25" deep pine frame sourced from renewable forests. Arrives wrapped and ready to hang. Materials: cotton and polyester composite canvas, pine wood frame Inner frame: radiata pine from renewable forests Leveling bumpers included for wall protection Ready to hang — mounting hardware pre-attached Care: Dust gently with a clean, damp cloth as needed.
