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1 of 253523 objects
Diana and Callisto c. 1707 - c. 1708
Black chalk, pen and ink and wash | 20.3 x 29.9 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 907188
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A pen and ink drawing of the goddess Diana discovering that one of her handmaidens, Callisto, is pregnant. Callisto was cast out of Diana's circle for her crime. A preparatory study for the fresco of the same subject painted for the apartments of Prince Ferdinand de' Medici in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence in 1707/8. In the fresco the scene is rendered in grisaille between a set of trompe l'oeil columns. Ricci painted several later versions of the subject but this study is closest to the Pitti fresco. The drawing dates from the earlier part of his career when the influence the Bolognese school as well as Parmigianino and Raphael is most evident.
The theme was also treated by Ricci in somewhat different form in the painting of The Triumph of Diana at Burlington House, London. RCIN 907188 is probably an intermediate composition between the modello in the Accademia, Venice, and the Burlington House painting of 1715-16.Provenance
Consul Joseph Smith; acquired by George III in 1762
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Medium and techniques
Black chalk, pen and ink and wash
Measurements
20.3 x 29.9 cm (sheet of paper)
Object type(s)