Diana and Endymion
Luca Giordano·c. 1675/1680
Historical Context
Giordano's Diana and Endymion from circa 1675-1680 at the National Gallery of Art depicts the moon goddess's discovery of the eternally sleeping shepherd on Mount Latmus — a mythological narrative of eternal beauty and perpetual sleep that carried associations with both divine love and the suspension of mortal time. Diana, the chaste goddess of the hunt, was said to have fallen in love with the sleeping Endymion's beauty and begged Zeus to grant him eternal sleep so she could visit him nightly. The subject combined sensuous beauty with melancholy — the love that cannot be reciprocated, the beauty preserved in unchanging sleep — giving Baroque painters rich material. Giordano's version demonstrates the luminous, dynamic style that made him the most sought-after Italian painter of the late seventeenth century: the warm Venetian-influenced flesh tones of the sleeping figure contrasting with the cool lunar light Diana brings with her. The National Gallery of Art in Washington holds this alongside other Baroque mythological subjects that survey the range of European seventeenth-century narrative painting.
Technical Analysis
Giordano's characteristically rapid, fluid brushwork creates a shimmering nocturnal atmosphere. The silvery moonlight on Diana contrasts with the warm, golden tones of Endymion's sleeping form, while the sweeping diagonal composition creates dynamic energy within the mythological idyll.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the silvery moonlight falling on Diana — Giordano distinguishes the moon goddess through cool, luminous light that contrasts with the warm golden tones of the sleeping Endymion.
- ◆Look at the sweeping diagonal composition: the goddess descending toward the shepherd creates dynamic energy within what is essentially an intimate, still scene.
- ◆Find Endymion's sleeping form: Giordano's rendering of sleeping beauty — the warm flesh, relaxed pose — draws on his study of Titian's reclining nudes.
- ◆Observe the shimmering nocturnal atmosphere: Giordano's fluid brushwork captures the quality of moonlit darkness with the same confidence he brings to daylit mythological scenes.
Provenance
(J.A. Tooth, London); purchased 24 May 1960 by (P. & D. Colnaghi, London); (sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 May 1967, no. 147);[1] Joseph F. McCrindle [1923-2008], New York; gift 1991 to NGA. [1] The name of the consignor to the 1967 sale was kindly supplied by Chloe Stead of Sotheby's (e-mail, 22 March 2010), and Colnaghi's source and purchase date were kindly supplied by Livia Schaafsma of that firm (e-mail, 23 March 2010); both messages in NGA curatorial files.
