The ''Fountain of Diana'' (french: Fontaine de Diane),"Fountain of Diana"
Louvre website
Archive copy (29 October 2020)
also known as the ''Diana of Anet'' (french: Diane d'Anet, link=no) and ''Diana with a Stag'' (french: Diane au cerf, link=no), is a marble Mannerist sculpture of the goddess Diana, representing

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and family' ...

. It was created to be the central ornament of a grand fountain in a courtyard of Diane de Poitier's Château d'Anet, but today is in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Room 214 (formerly 15b) on the ground floor of the Richelieu Wing (Louvre inventory no. MR 1581 MR sup 123); the Louvre has retitled it ''Diane appuyée sur un cerf'' ("Diana leaning on a deer")."Diane appuyée sur un cerf"
Louvre Collections. It was long believed to be the work of

Jean Goujon Jean Goujon (c. 1510 – c. 1565)Thirion, Jacques (1996). "Goujon, Jean" in ''The Dictionary of Art'', edited by Jane Turner; vol. 13, pp. 225–227. London: Macmillan. Reprinted 1998 with minor corrections: . was a French Renaissance sculpt ...

, but the identity of the sculptor is now considered uncertain, although

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

Germain Pilon Germain Pilon (c. 1525 – 3 February 1590)Connat & Colombier 1951; Thirion 1996. was a French Renaissance sculptor. Biography He was born in Paris and trained with his father, Andre Pilon. Documents show that he and his father executed severa ...

Pierre Bontemps Pierre Bontemps (c. 1505–1568) was a French sculptor known for his funeral monuments; he was, with Germain Pilon, one of the pre-eminent sculptors of the French Renaissance. He executed most of the bas-reliefs on the tomb of King Francis ...

, and have in turn been suggested.

Description

Diana, the goddess of hunting, is represented with two dogs (a greyhound named Phrocyon and a

barbet dog The Barbet is a breed of dog; it is a medium-sized French water dog. It is listed in Group 8 (retrievers, flushing dogs, water dogs) by the Société Centrale Canine, the French Kennel Club and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (Intern ...

named Cyrius) and a large

stag Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

. This striking ensemble has become one of the most famous works of the French Renaissance. Not a true portrait of Diane de Poitiers, it is but one of the many closely related images of moon goddesses, including the paintings ''

Diana the Huntress ''Diana the Huntress'' (french: Diane chasseresse) is an oil-on-canvas painting by an anonymous artist of the School of Fontainebleau. Painted in about 1550, it is a mythical representation of Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henry II, i ...

'' by a member of the

School of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...

and '' Le Bain de Diane'' by François Clouet. The sculpture was a part of the fountain in

's Château d'Anet built by Philibert de L'Orme from 1547. The ensemble, as engraved in its original location by

Jacques Androuet du Cerceau Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau, also given as Du Cerceau, DuCerceau, or Ducerceau (1510–1584) was a well-known French designer of architecture, ornament, furniture, metalwork and other decorative designs during the 16th century, and the founder ...

and as shown in a 16th-century drawing at the Louvre, differs from its current form. The stag's head and the dog on the left are positioned quite differently.Blunt 1953, p. 249, note 125. Blunt mentions that the drawing is reproduced in Mayer 1939, p. 129. The sculpture was heavily restored in the 18th century and a second time in 1799–1800 by

Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet (born in Le Havre on 21 June 1750 and died in Paris on 15 April 1818), was a French sculptor, draftsman and printmaker. On 21 August 1793, he was appointed director of public works of the Commune of Paris. On 7 July 17 ...

. Nevertheless, an early 17th-century drawing by Jacques Gentilhâtre in the Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects shows it much as it appears today. In 1953, the British art historian

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

argued that the engraving and the earlier drawing are not independent, and the differences are the result of "the sort of alteration that du Cerceau often made". The traditional attribution to Jean Goujon, suggested by

Alexandre Lenoir Marie Alexandre Lenoir (27 December 1761 – 11 June 1839) was a French archaeologist. Self-taught, he devoted himself to saving France's historic monuments, sculptures and tombs from the ravages of the French Revolution, notably those of Basiliqu ...

in 18th century, is not accepted today. Other sculptors have been suggested, including

Ponce Jacquiot Ponce may refer to: *Ponce (surname) * *Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy *Manuel Ponce, a Mexican composer active in the 20th century * British sla ...

and especially

. File:Fountain of Diana of Anet, from the second volume of 'Les plus excellents bastiments de France' by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (adjusted).jpg, Engraving published by

in 1579 File:Drawing of the Fountain of Diane, 16th century, Musée du Louvre – Mayer 1935 p. 129 (adjusted).jpg, Anonymous work 16th-century drawing (

)Reproduced i
Mayer 1935, p. 129

Notes

Bibliography

*Beaulieu, Michèle, "Description raisonnée des sculptures du Musée du Louvre", vol. 2, ''Renaissance française'', Paris, 1978, pp. 96–99. *Blunt, Anthony, ''Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700'', London, 1953, p. 70. (French edition, 1983, p. 108.) *Du Colombier, P., Jean Goujon, Paris, 1949, pp. 130–133. *Mayer, Marcel
"La fontaine de Diane du château d'Anet n'est pas de Benvenuto Cellini"
', vol. 68, June 1935, pp. 125–134. *Zerner, H., ''L'Art de la Renaissance en France. L'invention du classicisme'', Paris, 1996, pp. 361–363.

External links

{{Commons category, Fountain of Diana (Diane d'Anet) Louvre MR 1581 MR sup 123
At Louvre
1540s sculptures Sculptures of Artemis Sculptures of dogs Deer in art Sculptures of the Louvre Renaissance sculptures Mannerist sculptures

Description

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links