Jupiter and Callisto

The myth of Jupiter transforming into Diana to deceive and seduce the nymph Callisto — later revealed when Diana's bathing companions discover Callisto's pregnancy — was a standard subject of Baroque and Rococo painting, notable for its gender-crossing narrative and its opportunity for nude figure painting sanctioned by mythological legitimacy. Amigoni's 1750 Hermitage version treats the subject with his characteristic Rococo grace: Jupiter-as-Diana is depicted in the moment of encounter with the nymph, before any revelation or consequence. The emotional temperature is warm and seductive rather than anxious. The Hermitage acquired significant holdings of Venetian Rococo painting through Catherine the Great's collecting activities in the later eighteenth century, and several Amigoni canvases entered the collection through those purchases. The painting dates to the final years of Amigoni's life, as he was serving at the Spanish court in Madrid.

Amigoni's figure modeling in this Hermitage work shows the assured looseness of his mature period: flesh tones are built in warm glazes over a cool imprimatura, drapery falls in soft curves rather than sharp classical folds, and the landscape setting is indicated rather than described. The color scheme pairs pale flesh with the characteristic Amigoni rose-cream of divine drapery.