Diana and Callisto (Bril)
| Diana and Callisto | |
|---|---|
| File:Paul Bril - Diana and Callisto (National Gallery, London).jpg | |
| Artist | Paul Bril |
| Year | 1620s |
| Catalogue | NG4029 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 49.5 cm × 72.4 cm (19.4 in × 28.5 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
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Diana and Callisto is an oil-on-canvas painting by Flemish painter Paul Bril. Probably painted in the early 1620s, it was acquired by the National Gallery, London, in 1924.[1][2]
Subject
In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph, or the daughter of King Lycaon, king of Arcadia (which was claimed by Hesiod[3][4]). For the Romans, she was one of the virginal companions of Diana, who caught the eye of Zeus (Jupiter). As a follower of Artemis, Callisto took a vow to remain a virgin, as did all the nymphs of Artemis. This story was a favorite subject for some 15th-century, 16th-century and 17th-century patrons and artists. This was possibly related to the opportunity this subject gave to paint nude subjects.[5] In Bril's work, the small, Italianate, clumsy[6] staffage figures are but a minor ornamentation to the landscape, the subject for which he became celebrated in Rome.[7]
Painting
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Bril was born and trained in Antwerp.[5] He subsequently moved to Italy in 1575[5] or 1582.[8] In Rome, he came into contact with the prominent artists of the time and under the influence of the local art movements. This deeply modified his style, which became "calmer and more classicizing".[5] In the 1620s, Bril produced a number of landscapes, such as Diana and Callisto, wherein "broad tranquil settings are inhabited by mythological figures."[5] In the painting, Diana is seated on a stone in the foreground at lower right, surrounded by the other virgins. On the ground next to her are two quivers, some red and white clothing, and her bow.[5] Diana is gesturing to a group of nymphs on the other side of the body of water who are forcibly undressing Callisto. On the group's right is a nymph naked and ready to bathe, while on their left two nymphs look on, armed with bow and spears and flanked by a dog.[5] Dead game, more quivers, a bow and a spear lay next to some blue and red clothing on the bottom left. Next to these are two dogs. A man accompanied by a dog is passing by the undulated opening that leads from the cove to the open fields. The blue peaks of some hills are visible in the background. Big, white clouds drift left to right. Sunlight radiates from behind the tall trees that border the painting to the right. The painting was bequeathed to the National Gallery by Sir Claude Phillips upon his death in 1924.[5]
References
- ↑ "View of Bracciano". Google Arts and Culture. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ↑ "View of Bracciano". Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ↑ In his lost Astronomy, quoted in Catasterismi.
- ↑ Other writers gave her a mortal genealogy as the daughter of one or the other of Lycaon's sons: Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 "Diana and Callisto, Paul Bril". National Gallery. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ↑ "Landscape with Diana and Callisto". The Louvre. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ↑ "Paul Bril". Britannica. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ↑ Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 September 2016