Diana and Endymion
Etcher Sir Frank Short British
After George Frederic Watts British
Publisher Robert Dunthorne British
Not on view
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.
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