Diana and Endymion
Despite her sworn chastity, the moon goddess Diana fell in love with the beautiful shepherd Endymion and watched over him while he slept. This mezzotint shows the couple kissing and is based on a painting by Watts of 1869 (private collection). As part of a forward-looking cultural circle centered at Little Holland House in Kensington, the artist sympathized with the Pre-Raphaelites’ reforming agenda but disapproved of their zealous medievalism. This print vivifies its mythic subject by contrasting Diana’s urgent pose with Endymion’s languid form. Short used a rocker to produce the darks and a burnisher for the lights, translating the composition into a rich monochrome. Created two decades after the painting, the masterful print indicates Watts’s long-lived reputation.
Artwork Details
- Title: Diana and Endymion
- Etcher: Sir Frank Short (British, Stourbridge, West Midlands 1857–1945 Ditchling, East Sussex)
- Artist: After George Frederic Watts (British, London 1817–1904 London)
- Publisher: Robert Dunthorne (British, born ca. 1854, active 1881–1930s)
- Date: December 1, 1891
- Medium: Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink
- Dimensions: Plate: 18 × 22 3/16 in. (45.7 × 56.3 cm)
Sheet: 21 1/8 × 25 1/8 in. (53.7 × 63.8 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
- Object Number: 59.592.34
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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