Diana Discovering Callisto's Pregnancy
Original title: Diana Discovering Callisto's Pregnancy
kurzbeschreibung
Cornelis Cort made this engraving in 1566, capturing the instant Diana notices her nymph Callisto's pregnancy. A black-and-white print, it belongs to a series of Metamorphoses scenes.
Description
A naked woman dominates the image: Diana, the huntress, with bow and arrow, her gaze turned back. To the left sits a man with a leashed dog. On the right stand several women, one of whom places a hand on her breast—a reference to her pregnancy. A statue of a goddess with a deer rises behind them, surrounded by trees and rocks.
Context
Cort, a Dutch engraver, worked in Italy and became known for his reproductive prints. His sheet of 1566 falls in a period when mythological subjects enjoyed great popularity in art. The model was a painting by Titian of the same scene. Cort produced numerous prints after works by Italian masters.
Impact
Delicate lines and graduated shading give figures and landscape a sense of volume. The arrangement draws the eye to Diana and the women's reactions, making the tension of discovery palpable.
Technique
In etching, the drawing is scratched into a wax-coated metal plate and then bitten with acid. The monochrome black-and-white execution heightens the contrasts and brings out the details of the scene.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)