Art Funded by you

Diana and Callisto

Titian, 1556-1559

Titian, Diana and Callisto, 1556-1559, National Galleries of Scotland; National Gallery; Scottish National Gallery, Art Funded 2012
The National Galleries of Scotland. Purchased jointly by the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London, with contributions from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), The Monument Trust, J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, Mr and Mrs James Kirkman, Sarah and David Kowitz, Chris Rokos, The Rothschild Foundation, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement and through private appeal and bequests 2012

This work is one of the most celebrated and admired paintings in the European tradition and has influenced the work of generations of high-profile artists, from Velázquez and Rubens to Turner and Constable down to Lucian Freud.

Callisto was the favourite of Diana, staunch defender of chastity. She was wary of men, but her great beauty proved to be her undoing. She was seduced by the lusty Jupiter who assumed the guise of the nymph’s mistress Diana in order to gain her confidence. Diana and her band of nymphs, weary after hunting, entered a dark wood with a stream running through it. They undressed to bathe, all that is except for Callisto, who was then stripped off her garment to reveal her swollen belly, and immediately banished from Diana’s company.

This work was jointly acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.

It is a companion piece to Titian's Diana and Actaeon acquired by the National Gallery and National Galleries Scotland with Art Fund help in 2009.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Diana and Callisto, 1556-1559

Date supported

2012

Medium and material

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

187 x 204 cm

Grant

2000000

Total cost

45000000

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