Juno Seeking from Jupiter the Gift of Io Transformed

Juno Seeking from Jupiter the Gift of Io Transformed, 1638, in the Royal Collection, depicts the Ovidian myth in which Juno, suspicious of Jupiter's attentions to the nymph Io, asks for the white cow into which Jupiter has transformed her as a gift. The moment is one of baroque divine intrigue — Jupiter caught between his deceptive transformation and Juno's shrewd demand. The Royal Collection acquired this work through the long history of British royal patronage of Italian art, which included substantial Baroque purchases. For Castiglione the subject was ideal: a mythological justification for placing the white cow centre-stage as both narrative protagonist and showpiece of animal painting.

The white cow — Io transformed — occupies the compositional centre, her luminous form set against the dark atmospheric landscape and the divine figures at either side. Jupiter and Juno are rendered with the idealised formality of history painting while the cow displays the naturalistic description of Castiglione's genre work.