The Story of Apollo and Diana: Leto and the Lycian Peasants

Engraving, part of a set of six scenes illustrating the story of Apollo and Diana, created by Etienne Delaune between 1547 and 1548. According to the legend, when Hera learned that Leto had seduced her husband, Zeus, and was pregnant with his children, she forbade any place under the sun to shelter the sinful woman, who was forced to transform into a quail and wander all over Greece before finally finding a place to give birth to her children, Apollo and Diana. The scene presents two separate episodes of Leto's life simultaneously, a tool often used by Delaune in his creations. On the first plane, to the right, Leto is depicted kneeling by a pond, her two children on her sides, raising her arms toward the sky while professing a curse on the Lycian peasants that stir the mud in the pond to impede her from drinking its water, and turning them into frogs. On the left, Leto is depicted carrying Apollo and Diana while running away from Juno, who chases her riding a winged dragon, likely a symbol of Juno's jealousy and vengeful spirit.