Diana and Callisto (after Titian)
Henry Stone, known as 'Old Stone' (London 1616 - London 1653)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1636 - 1653
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
2794 x 3302 mm (110 x 130 in)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 108768
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Diana and Callisto (after Titian) by Henry Stone (London 1616 - London 1653), known as 'Old Stone', after Titian (Pieve di Cadore 1488/90 - Venice 1576). A copy, with variations, after the original from the Duke of Sutherland collection and now owned by the National Gallery, London and the National Galleries of Scotland which was painted for King Philip II of Spain between 1556 and 1559. It belongs to a group of large-scale mythologies inspired by the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Titian himself referred to them as ‘poesie’ - the visual equivalent of poetry. The figures, clothed Callisto, on the left are closer to the picture featured in David Teniers the younger's painting of the Picture Gallery of the Archduke Leopold William in Brussels, in the Prado, Madrid, although the figure on a pedestal holding a jug upside down is the same as the orginal and the Rubens and del Mazo copies. Callisto was an Arcadian nymph who was one of Diana’s companions in the chase and vowed to chastity. Zeus fell in love with her and raped her though she struggled against him she became pregnant. One very hot day, months later, Diana persuaded all her companions to undress and bathe in a cool stream, Callisto refused, and her companions stripped her clothes from her. Diana realising the truth, banished her. She gave birth to a son Arcas and Hera in a fury turned her into a bear and Diana set her dogs on her, Jupiter saved her and transported her to the heavens. Callisto was an attendant of Diana and she expected that her cult of chastity would be respected. However, Zeus, disguising himself as Diana, seduced Callisto – the scene shows Callisto’s obvious pregnancy being revealed to Diana – in disgust Diana transforms Callisto into a bear and sets the dogs on her – Callisto is rescued in the nick of time by Zeus who places her in the heavens to shine forever as the ‘Great Bear’.
Provenance
Hung in old house and recorded on Great Staircase in 1769; bought with part of the contents of Kedleston with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1986 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000)
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to the National Trust in 1987)
Makers and roles
Henry Stone, known as 'Old Stone' (London 1616 - London 1653), artist after Titian (Pieve di Cadore 1488/90 - Venice 1576), artist