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 Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

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 The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France. It was built on the former château at the ...

, 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, Pierre Bontemps, and have in turn been suggested.

Description

Diana, the goddess of hunting, is represented with two dogs (a

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

named Phrocyon and a barbet dog 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 The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

. 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'' 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 François Clouet (c. 1510 – 22 December 1572), son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance miniaturist and painter, particularly known for his detailed portraits of the French ruling family. Historical references François Clouet was born in ...

. The sculpture was a part of the fountain in

built by

Philibert de L'Orme Philibert de l'Orme () (3-9 June 1514 – 8 January 1570) was a French architect and writer, and one of the great masters of French Renaissance architecture. His surname is also written De l'Orme, de L'Orme, or Delorme. Biography Early care ...

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. Nevertheless, an early 17th-century drawing by Jacques Gentilhâtre in the Library of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

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

, Pierre Bontemps, Ponce Jacquiot and especially Germain Pilon. 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