Diana and her Nymphs

Domenichino painted Diana and Her Nymphs around 1616–17, a large mythological composition depicting the goddess of the hunt with her attendant nymphs in a landscape setting that was among the most admired paintings of its generation in Rome. The work's combination of classical figure arrangement — derived from Annibale Carracci and ultimately from ancient reliefs — with a pastoral landscape setting and the varied activities of the nymphs (archery competition, music, bathing) created a template for the classical mythological landscape that Poussin would study and develop. The painting's influence on French painting was transmitted both directly and through its engagement with the emerging Claude Lorrain landscape tradition.

The graceful figures of Diana and her nymphs are arranged in a frieze-like composition within an ideal landscape, Domenichino's precise draftsmanship and luminous color creating an image of classical pastoral beauty.