Diana and Callisto (Wilkie)

Diana and Callisto
ArtistDavid Wilkie
Year1803
TypeOil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions64.1 cm × 76.8 cm (25.2 in × 30.2 in)
LocationChrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Diana and Callisto is an 1803 history painting by the Scottish artist David Wilkie based on Roman mythology.[1] Produced when the artist was a student at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, it depicts the moment a furious Diana discovers that her maid Callisto has become pregnant by Jupiter.[2]

The subject of Diana and Callisto was chosen for that year's competition by the Academy. Wilkie won first prize and within two years he was to move to London where his genre scenes enjoyed success at the Royal Academy. The work remained in Wilkie's possession at his death in 1841. Today the painting is in the collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, having been given by Walter P. Chrysler Jr. in 1971.[3] A chalk study for the painting is in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.[4]

References

Bibliography

  • Macmillan, Duncan. Scottish Art, 1460-2000. Mainstream Publishing, 2000.
  • Tromans, Nicholas. David Wilkie: The People's Painter. Edinburgh University Press, 2007.