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| Gerard Hoet the Elder (Zaltbommel/Gelderland 1648 - The Hague 1733)
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| Diana and Callisto
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Signed bottom left: G. Hoet
Oil on copper
13 ¾ x 17 ½ in. (35 x 44.5 cm.)
The mythological subject of Diana and Callisto is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Callisto was one of the nymphs who served the Goddess Diana. Callisto broke her vow of chastity when Zeus, disguising himself as Diana, seduced her. While the nymphs were bathing Artemis discovered Callisto’s pregnancy and, inflamed with rage, Diana expelled her. In our picture these scenes are portrayed on the right hand side of the composition where Callisto’s pregnancy is discovered by the other nymphs as they pull her cloth away from her and on the left hand side, Diana, who is draped in a rich blue cloth, banishes Callisto. Callisto is seen in the centre of the composition walking away. Callisto subsequently gave birth to Arkan, who later became the first ancestor of the Arcadians. Out of jealousy Callisto was transformed into a bear by Hera, Zeus’ wife, and was condemned to wander the earth as an animal for fifteen years. At the end of this period she was nearly killed by her own son, who was hunting wild animals. Zeus eventually showed mercy on them and raised them up into the sky, where they became the constellations Ursa Maior and Arktophylanx.
Hoet’s refined technique is visible in his delicate style of painting and bears resemblance to the Leiden fijnschilders of the period. Although the size of the Colnaghi painting is relatively small, Hoet manages to create a lively interaction between the figures and their setting and the composition is supplemented by Italianate architectural ruins which are visible in the background. Our painting can be compared with other mythological works set amongst Italian influenced landscapes by the artist such as Mercury and Herse, (circa 1710, Norton Simon collection) and Queen Cleophis offers Alexander the Great wine after the conquest of Massaga (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.)
Gérard Hoet the Elder trained with his father, the glass painter Mozes Hoet, and later under Warnard van Ryzen and Cornelis van Poelenburgh. Van Poelenburgh was an Italianate landscape painter who was one of the first Dutch painters to incorporate into his paintings the romantic ruins and fragments of antique statuary he had seen in Italy (see, for example, A Nymph surprised by a Satyr in an Arcadian landscape (formerly with Trafalgar Galleries, London.) In 1672 the French took control of Protestant Zoltbommel and Hoet decided to leave for The Hague where he worked in the city for General Salis. He later went to Amsterdam and France before settling in Utrecht, where he founded a drawing academy around 1696. In 1715 he became a member of the Guild of St Luke in The Hague. During Hoet’s lifetime his paintings were incredibly fashionable and achieved high prices. He depicted mainly religious, mythological, or classical subjects set in landscapes, usually on a small scale. Less frequently, he painted these subjects in larger formats with multiple figures and in an elegant, classicizing style. Hoet also painted portraits and genre pieces, as well as designing illustrations for bibles. His published a book on drawing in 1712.
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P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd - 15 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AX, United Kingdom Tel: +44-20-7491 7408 Fax: +44-20-7491 8851 contact@colnaghi.co.uk
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