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Diana Resting from the Chase
Luca Giordano·c. 1670
Historical Context
Giordano's Diana Resting from the Chase from around 1670 at Audley End House depicts the virgin goddess of the hunt in repose after her huntresses have left the chase — a subject combining the classical female nude, landscape setting, and mythological narrative in a composition well suited to aristocratic decorative programs celebrating nature, athleticism, and ideal female beauty. Diana's rest after the hunt was a complement to the more dramatic Actaeon discovery subject (where the hunter surprised the goddess bathing), offering the serene and self-possessed aspect of divine chastity rather than its violently protective dimension. Giordano's treatment at Audley End — a magnificent English Baroque country house near Saffron Walden, now managed by English Heritage — demonstrates his mature command of the reclining female figure and its landscape setting, the warm flesh tones of his Venetian-influenced palette illuminating the goddess with the quality of outdoor light. The Audley End collection, assembled across several centuries of English aristocratic patronage, includes important Italian Baroque works acquired during the Grand Tour period.
Technical Analysis
The reclining goddess is set within a woodland clearing, her hunting equipment and attendant hounds establishing the narrative context. Giordano's warm palette and sensuous modeling of the figure demonstrate his facility with mythological subjects.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the reclining goddess with her hunting equipment and attendant hounds establishing the narrative context — Diana at rest is identified by her specific attributes rather than by abstract attributes of divinity.
- ◆Look at Giordano's warm palette and sensuous modeling of the figure: the goddess of chastity is rendered with the same physical attention Giordano brings to Venus — classical mythology required nude beauty regardless of the deity's specific character.
- ◆Find the woodland clearing setting: Giordano creates a believable sacred grove that combines atmospheric landscape with the specific natural details of a hunting goddess's domain.
- ◆Observe that Audley End House in Essex holds this work — one of many English country houses whose Italian Baroque collections now form part of English Heritage's holdings.
