''Diana and Callisto'' is a painting completed between 1556 and 1559 by the Italian late Renaissance artist Titian. It portrays the moment in which the goddess Diana discovers that her maid Callisto has become pregnant by Jupiter. The painting was jointly purchased by the National Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery for £45 million in March 2012. Along with its companion painting ''

Diana and Actaeon The myth of Diana and Actaeon can be found in Ovid’s ''Metamorphoses''. The tale recounts the unfortunate fate of a young hunter named Actaeon, who was a grandson of Cadmus, and his encounter with chaste Artemis, known to the Romans as Diana ...

'' it is displayed on an alternating basis between London and Edinburgh. There is a later version by Titian and his workshop in the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

in Vienna.

History

''Diana and Callisto'' is part of a series of seven famous canvasses, the "poesies", depicting mythological scenes from Ovid's '' Metamorphoses'' painted for

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

after Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor had declined Titian's offer to paint them for him. The work remained in the Spanish royal collection until 1704 when King

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

gave it to the French ambassador. It was soon acquired by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, nephew of Louis XIV, and Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, for his collection, one of the finest ever assembled. After the French Revolution, the Orleans collection was sold to a Brussels banker by

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Louis Philippe Joseph; 13 April 17476 November 1793), was a major French noble who supported the French Revolution. Louis Philippe II was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Char ...

in 1791, two years before he was guillotined. It was sent to London for sale in 1793 and purchased by a syndicate of three aristocrats, the leader of which, the canal and coal-magnate Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, bought a large number of paintings for himself, including ''Diana and Callisto'' and ''

'' (both from the "poesie" series), eight paintings by Poussin, three Raphaels and

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

's "Self-Portrait, aged 51".

Sutherland collection

Bridgewater was probably inspired to buy the paintings by his nephew,

Earl Gower Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, the ancestor of the Dukes of Sutherland. Certainly, on Bridgewater's death five years after the purchase, he bequeathed the Titians and the rest of his collection to Gower, who put it on display to the public in his Bridgewater House in London where it would remain on public display for the next century and a half. Upon first seeing the collection there, William Hazlitt wrote "I was staggered when I saw the works ... A new sense came upon me, a new heaven and a new Earth stood before me." At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the collection was moved from London to Scotland. Since 1945, both ''Diana and Actaeon'' and ''Diana and Callisto'' (with other paintings from the collection, known collectively as "the Bridgewater loan" or "the Sutherland Loan") have resided at the National Gallery of Scotland (NGS) in Edinburgh. Besides Hazlitt, during their time on public display the two Titian paintings have inspired such other artists as

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

and Lucian Freud — Freud has described the pair as "simply the most beautiful pictures in the world".

National acquisition

The Sutherland collection has passed by descent to

Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland Francis Ronald Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland (born 18 February 1940), known as Francis Ronald Egerton until 2000, is a British peer from the Egerton family. Family Sutherland is the son of Cyril Reginald Egerton, the grandson of Francis Egert ...

, most of whose wealth is contained in the paintings collection, but who, in late August 2008 announced his wish to sell some of the collection in order to diversify his assets. He at first offered them as a pair to the British national galleries at £100m (a third of their overall estimated market price) if they could demonstrate by the end of 2008 that they could raise that sum — if not, the pair or other paintings from the Bridgewater collection would be put on public auction in 2009. The NGS and the National Gallery in London announced that they would combine forces to raise £50m (or a demonstration that this money could be raised) to purchase ''Diana and Actaeon'' paid over three years in instalments and then £50m for ''Diana and Callisto'' to be paid for similarly from 2013. Though the campaign received criticism from John Tusa and

Nigel Carrington Sir Nigel Martyn Carrington is a British lawyer and academic leader who served as Vice-Chancellor of University of the Arts London between 2008 and 2020. Education Carrington studied at Brighton College, a boarding independent school for boy ...

for the Duke's motives and for distracting from funding art students, it gained press support in the UK. On 14 October 2008 the appeal received £1 million from the

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

and on 19 November this was followed by £10 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Speculation began when the original December 31 deadline passed without news and the Scottish Government's announcement of a contribution of £17.5 million in January 2009 triggered a political row, with Ian Davidson questioning the deal at a time of

economic hardship An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

. There was also controversy over attempts to dilute the guarantee that the duke would sell no other of the paintings from the Sutherland Loan should the two Titians be bought. Finally, on February 2, 2009 it was announced that, thanks to the deadline being extended to raise more funds and finalise the payment plan for the ''Diana and Callisto'', £50m had been raised and the painting would be acquired.

Nicholas Penny Sir Nicholas Beaver Penny (born 21 December 1949) is a British art historian. From 2008 to 2015 he was director of the National Gallery in London. Early life Penny was educated at Shrewsbury School before he studied English at St Catharine ...

, Director of the National Gallery stated that many who had contributed to the ''Diana and Actaeon'' appeal had done so "on the understanding" that ''Diana and Callisto'' would also be purchased, but that raising the second £50m was "not going to be easily raised. We do believe we can do it, and we've given it a great deal of thought. It's not just reckless gambling.". However, on October 23, 2011, the Scottish government announced it would not make a contribution to the ''Diana and Callisto'' appeal, referring to its contribution to the ''Diana and Actaeon'' appeal by stating that "this government has made its contribution to the campaign". After a lengthy fundraising campaign, the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland purchased the painting for £45 million in March 2012, the asking price having been reduced by £5 million by the Duke of Sutherland – £15 million had been raised by individual and trust donations, £2 million from the

and £3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The remaining £25 million came from the National Gallery's reserves, leaving them (in its director's words) "depleted" The painting is displayed with ''

'' on a rotating basis in London and Edinburgh, starting with London from 1 March 2012 – for the ''Diana and Callisto'', this will be on a 60:40 basis in favour of London, to reflect the National Gallery's greater monetary contribution to the purchase.

Painting materials

Titian employed an exceedingly wide palette consisting of nearly all pigments of the Renaissance period, such as natural ultramarine, vermilion, malachite,

verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ac ...

ochres Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

, lead-tin-yellow, smalt, and

carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium complex derived from carminic acid. Specific code n ...

.Titian, Diana and Callisto
ColourLex

Titian's ''poesie'' series for Philip II

* ''Danaë'', delivered to Philip 1553, now Wellington Collection, with earlier and later versions. * '' Venus and Adonis'', Museo del Prado, delivered 1554, and several other versions * ''Diana and Actaeon'', 1556–1559, owned jointly by London's National Gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh * ''Diana and Callisto'', 1556–1559, owned jointly by London's National Gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh * ''

Perseus and Andromeda In Greek mythology, Andromeda (; grc, Ἀνδρομέδα, Androméda or , ''Andromédē'') is the daughter of the king of Aethiopia, Cepheus, and his wife, Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasts that she is more beautiful than the Nereids, Posei ...

'', Wallace Collection, c. 1553–1562 * '' The Rape of Europa'', c. 1560–1562, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum * ''

The Death of Actaeon ''The Death of Actaeon'' is a late work by the Italian Renaissance painter Titian, painted in oil on canvas from about 1559 to his death in 1576 and now in the National Gallery in London. It is very probably one of the two paintings the artist st ...

'', National Gallery, never delivered and not always counted in the series, c. 1559 onwards File:Tizian - Danae receiving the Golden Rain - Prado.jpg, ''Danaë'' File:Venus and Adonis by Titian.jpg, '' Venus and Adonis'' File:Titian - Diana and Actaeon - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Diana and Actaeon'' File:TitianDianaCallistoEdinburgh.jpg, ''Diana and Callisto'' File:Perseo y Andrómeda, por Tiziano.jpg, ''

'' File:Tizian 085.jpg, '' The Rape of Europa'' File:Titian - The Death of Actaeon - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

References

Sources

*Brigstocke, Hugh; ''Italian and Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland'', 2nd Edn, 1993, National Galleries of Scotland,

External links

National Galleries of Scotland catalogue entry for ''Diana and Callisto''
*
Other press reactions to the NGS/NG appeal

Titian, ''Diana and Callisto''
ColourLex {{DEFAULTSORT:Diana And Callisto 1556 paintings 1557 paintings 1558 paintings 1559 paintings Paintings in the National Galleries of Scotland Paintings by Titian in the National Gallery, London Paintings depicting Diana (mythology) Nude art Paintings based on Metamorphoses Dogs in paintings by Titian Paintings formerly in the Spanish royal collection Paintings formerly in the Orleans Collection Mythological paintings by Titian Callisto (mythology)