Coronation of Diana

This mythological canvas of 1620, now in the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, depicts the Coronation of Diana — an unusual subject that combines Snyders's expertise in animals with a mythological narrative framework. Diana as goddess of the hunt was a natural subject for Snyders, since she presided over exactly the animals and hunting activities that formed his primary subject matter. The coronation of Diana — whether by other Olympians or by nymphs — is a less common subject than her standard hunting imagery, suggesting a specific programme or unusually literary patron. Snyders regularly worked with figure painters to populate his compositions with convincing human and divine figures; the mythological figures here may have been contributed by a collaborator. The Prussian Palaces Foundation administers works from the former Hohenzollern collections, and this painting likely entered those collections during the seventeenth or eighteenth century as part of systematic collecting of Flemish Baroque works. Mythological paintings gave Snyders the opportunity to combine his animal expertise with a narrative legitimacy that pure still life lacked in academic hierarchies.

The composition integrates divine figures in the upper register with Snyders's characteristic animals and landscape below, creating a two-tiered spatial arrangement. Diana's hounds, deer, and other hunting animals are rendered with the confidence of Snyders's mature animal painting. The figure painting, likely by a collaborator, uses a somewhat different technique — smoother flesh tones and more idealised forms — than Snyders's own animal work.