On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01492
- Author
- Dyck, Anton van (Flemish),
- Title
- Diana and Endymion surprised by a Satyr
- Chronology
- 1622-1627
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 144 cm x 163 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
Endymion, son of Aethlius and
grandson of Jupiter was long
enamored of the Moon (which is
identified with Diana or Selene)
but was continually rejected by
her. Finally, his insistence bore
fruit and he consummated his love.
The mythological story doesn't come
from Ovid, who was a customary
source for mythological paintings,
but instead from texts by Pliny,
Sapho and Lucianus. Van Dyck
depicts the end of this story when,
after consummating their love, the
couple sleeps placidly in the
woods, where they are discovered by
a satyr.
Van Dyck's representation is
steeped in poetry, with light
bathes the beautiful body of Diana,
who is identifiable by the moon in
her diadem and by elements alluding
to her condition as goddess of the
hunt: a dog, a bow and arrows, and
the pieces in the lower right
corner of the composition, which
are, themselves, a magnificent
still life.
The painting was highly influenced
by the sensuality of Italian
mythological painting and is based
on models by Tintoretto
(1519-1594), although it also draws
on certain engravings by the
Flemish artist, Aendrick Goltzius
(1558-1617).
This work was first documented in
Spain in the 1686 inventory of
Madrid's Alcázar Palace.
Location on the map
