A Companion of Diana
1710-1724
Artist, French, 1666 - 1755
This companion of the Roman goddess of hunting and the moon was meant to be seen among green leaves in the gardens of Marly, a palace of King Louis XIV of France. She belongs to a planned series of statues, of which only a few were completed before the king's death in 1715. Marly served as a hunting retreat where the king could shed the burdens and formality of his main palace at Versailles, and the style and expression of Lemoyne's nymph suggest such relaxation. Twisting with effortless grace, she beams down at an affectionate hound. Open spaces between her torso, limbs, and drapery make the marble look light.
West Building Main Floor, East Sculpture Hall
Artwork overview
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Medium
marble
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall: 182.5 x 76.5 x 57.8 cm (71 7/8 x 30 1/8 x 22 3/4 in.)
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Accession
1942.9.133
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Château de la Muette, near Paris, until the late 19th century;[1] sold to (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., Paris, New York, and London); Rodolphe Kann [d. 1905], Paris; (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 20 November 1908 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[2] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] The owner of the château when the sculpture was sold to Wildenstein was the comte de Franqueville. The early provenance is given in Marc Furcy-Raynaud, ed., Inventaire des sculptures exécutées au XVIIIe siècle pour la direction des batiments du roi, Paris, 1927: 179.
[2] According to Widener card file in NGA curatorial records.
Associated Names
Bibliography
1873
Larousse, Pierre. La grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle vol. 10. Paris, 1873: 356.
1923
Réau, Louis. "Etudes sur la sculpture du XVIIIe siècle: Jean-Louis Lemoyne (1665-1755)." _ La revue de l'art ancien et moderne_ 43 (1923): 183-196, repro.
1927
Réau, Louis. Une dynastie de sculpteurs au XVIIe siècle: Les Lemoynes. Paris, 1927: 15-17, 30, 34, repro. no. 17.
1932
Réau, Louis. "Les compagnes de Diane." Gazette des beaux-arts 8 (1932): 136-154.
1948
Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 132, repro., as Diana.
Swarzenski, Hanns. "Washington: Neuerwerbungen der Skulpturen Abteilung der National Gallery of Art." Pheobus 2 (1948): 38-42.
1949
Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 182-183, note 50, repro. 154-157, as Diana.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 160, as Diana.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 142, repro., as Diana.
Raggio, Olga. "The Metropolitain Marbles." Art News 67: 46,48,49.
1972
Kalnein, Wend G., and Michael Levey. Art and Architecture of the Eighteenth Century in France. Harmondsworth, 1972: 48-49.
1973
Beaulieu, Michèle. "La Diane d'Anselme Flamen et ses compagnes." La Revue du Louvre 23 (1973): 83-88.
1979
Hodgkinson, Terence. "Companions of Diana at Cliveden." National Trust Studies (1979): 90-98.
1980
Rosasco, Betsy Jean. "Notes on Two Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Drawings and the Statues They Depict." Studies in the History of Art 8 (1980): 55-57, repro.
1981
Seinkewicz, Thomas J. Classical Gods and Heroes in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1981: 36, repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 643, no. 1010, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 301, repro.
1994
Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 133, repro.
1999
Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.
2000
National Gallery of Art Special Issue. Connaissance des Arts. Paris, 2000:61.
2004
Gopnik, Blake. "A Very Full Week at the National Gallery: Five Full Days of Permanent Pleasure." The Washington Post (December 27, 2004): C1, C2, repro.
2008
Luchs, Alison. "A Marble Hunting Party: The Companions of Diana for Marly." In Collecting Sculpture in Early Modern Europe. Nicholas Penny and Eike D. Schmidt, eds. Studies in the History of Art, 70, Symposium Papers 47 (2008): 323-341, fig. 1, figs. 2-4 (details).
2011
Wardropper, Ian. _European sculpture, 1400-1900, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art _. New York, 2011: 165, repro. fig. 44.
2017
Luchs, Alison. “The Little Dancer in Wax and Words: Reading a Sonnet by Edgar Degas.” In Degas, Daphne Barbour and Suzanne Quillen Lomax, eds. Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 3 (2017): 164, fig. 7, 172 n. 25.
2023
Dickerson, C.D. III and Robert Price. "Restoring Sculpture in Paris After and Before the French Revolution." Daphne Barbour, ed., Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 6 (2023):120, 125, fig. 5, 136, 137 fig. 17 (detail), 138-140 fig. 18 (detail), 142.
Inscriptions
on pedestal, proper right: j.L. LEMOYNE. PARiSiNVS. FECIT. / 1724
Wikidata ID
Q63809783