Sleeping Diana Watched by Two Fauns

The contrast between the bright luminescent Diana, goddess of hunting and champion of chasteness, and the somewhat lecherous, somewhat fearful furry fauns watching her could hardly be greater. Their hands almost meet in the center of the canvas, but the rear faun just manages to hold back his companion in time. Thus, the fragile opposition of Goddess and creature of nature, of purity and instinct, of the sublime and the grotesque is maintained, and with it the stimulation of watching something forbidden. The figure of the half exposed Diana continues the long tradition of representing female reclining figures, such as the sleeping Venus. Böcklin painted the piece under the influence of the colors preferred in the Italian Early Renaissance. He had trained in landscape painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and is regarded as the main representative of 19th-century idealist-symbolist art.

Don't forget its our 5th birthday week! If you missed it - just swipe left ;)

Zuzanna