Classroom Activity

Diana and Endymion

Part of Greco-Roman Origin Myths

Students will be introduced to the Greco-Roman myth of Diana and Endymion by critically analyzing a painting by Fragonard. They will then write and illustrate their own myth to describe a natural phenomenon or social custom.

Close to us, a woman and a winged, child-like putto float on clouds above a clean-shaven young man in a forest setting in this horizontal painting. All three people have smooth, pale skin, rosy cheeks, and ash-blond hair. The man reclines with his torso propped so his feet extend along the rocky ground to our left. He rests his head in his right hand, farther from us, with that elbow resting on a rock. We look up onto the underside of his chin and delicate features. A scarlet-red robe falls from his shoulders and across his hips. One knee is propped up, and that foot is tucked behind his other ankle. His muscular torso, arms, and legs are bare. His left hand, closer to us, rests by his side and loosely holds a staff. Three tan-colored sheep with long faces lie or stand behind the man, in the lower right corner of the painting. A light gray hound dog with floppy ears sleeps with its drooping muzzle resting on its paws in the shadows at the man’s feet. The woman floats just above the man, reclining on a fog-gray cloud with her feet angled toward the man’s torso. Her curls are held back by a topaz-blue ribbon, and she looks down at the man, a faint smile on her lips. A loose white garment partially covered by a blue robe falls from her shoulders, leaving one breast and one leg bare. She reaches outward with her left hand, palm out, and the other hand rests down on the cloud alongside her. A sharply pointed, luminous crescent moon curves up to each side behind the cloud. The chubby, nude, baby-like putto nestles on his belly in a cloud between the man and woman. He has short, tousled hair, stubby wings, and his skin is flushed pink. An arrow held in one hand points toward the man, and the putto rests his other hand in a bunch of pink roses. Plants and flowers grow in patches on the ground around the man. The sky above is framed with steel-gray clouds against pale blue.
Jean Honoré Fragonard, Diana and Endymion, c. 1753/1756, oil on canvas, Timken Collection, 1960.6.2

Grade Level

Subject

Language

Materials

  • Writing materials
  • Markers or colored pencils
  • Ruler to draw and measure comic strip boxes

Warm-Up Question

What do you think is happening in this painting?

Background

Diana was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon. Her symbol, a crescent moon, sits behind her in the sky. When Diana first saw the young shepherd Endymion sleeping in the shelter of a cave, she instantly fell in love with him. Quiet as moonlight she entered the cave and gently kissed his closed eyes. This kiss selfishly cast Endymion into an immortal sleep so that she could adore him forever. Beside Diana is Cupid with an arrow in his hand. The little god symbolizes what this myth is all about—love.

Ancient poets said that somewhere, high in the mountains of Greece, Endymion still sleeps in a hidden cave with his sheep and dog nearby. Ancient belief was that on nights of the new moon, when it was hidden from view, Diana left the sky to be at Endymion’s side.

As a young man, Fragonard was fired from his job with a Parisian notary because he used his pen more often for drawing than for doing the firm’s business—so he turned to art. Fragonard loved to paint light-hearted subjects: young people enjoying games and romance in gardens, girls on swings, and pairs of mythological lovers. In this particular painting, Fragonard was posed with a challenge: depicting a scene at night. He met this challenge by using soft blues and gray to give the night a pastel-colored lightness.

Guided Practice

  • What moment of the story of Diana and Endymion has Fragonard chosen to depict? (After Diana kissed him, placing a spell on him to sleep forever.) Why might the artist have painted this moment?
  • How does he express surprise and delight in Diana’s gesture upon seeing Endymion?
  • Diana and Endymion is a story that takes place at night. How did Fragonard depict night? If you were a painter, how might you paint it differently?
  • What natural phenomenon is explained in this painting? (Why a new moon exists.) When you look in the sky at the time of the new moon and have difficulty finding it, what can you say about where Diana is?
  • What is the cresent moon or new moon a symbol of? (The goddess Diana.)
  • Diana fell very much in love with Endymion. What do you think about her decision to cast him into an immortal sleep so that he would never grow old or awaken, so she could love him forever? Would you have made the same choice as Diana? If not, how would you have handled the situation?

Activity

Students will write their own stories to explain a natural phenomenon (such as a rainbow or a thunderstorm) or a custom (such as shaking hands or hugging) began. They should be able to directly link a cause (in this story, Diana’s love for Endymion) to its effect (the existence of the new moon).

Extension

Lastly, students should illustrate their myth. They can use a comic strip format to show different moments within their narratives. Then ask students to share their stories with the class.

National Core Arts Standards

VA:Cn10.1.5 Apply formal and conceptual vocabularies of art and design to view surroundings in new ways through art-making.

VA:Re7.1.5 Compare one's own interpretation of a work of art with the interpretation of others.

VA:Re7.2.5 Identify and analyze cultural associations suggested by visual imagery.

VA:Re8.1.5 Interpret art by analyzing characteristics of form and structure, contextual information, subject matter, visual elements, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.

You may also like

Close to us, a woman and a winged, child-like putto float on clouds above a clean-shaven young man in a forest setting in this horizontal painting. All three people have smooth, pale skin, rosy cheeks, and ash-blond hair. The man reclines with his torso propped so his feet extend along the rocky ground to our left. He rests his head in his right hand, farther from us, with that elbow resting on a rock. We look up onto the underside of his chin and delicate features. A scarlet-red robe falls from his shoulders and across his hips. One knee is propped up, and that foot is tucked behind his other ankle. His muscular torso, arms, and legs are bare. His left hand, closer to us, rests by his side and loosely holds a staff. Three tan-colored sheep with long faces lie or stand behind the man, in the lower right corner of the painting. A light gray hound dog with floppy ears sleeps with its drooping muzzle resting on its paws in the shadows at the man’s feet. The woman floats just above the man, reclining on a fog-gray cloud with her feet angled toward the man’s torso. Her curls are held back by a topaz-blue ribbon, and she looks down at the man, a faint smile on her lips. A loose white garment partially covered by a blue robe falls from her shoulders, leaving one breast and one leg bare. She reaches outward with her left hand, palm out, and the other hand rests down on the cloud alongside her. A sharply pointed, luminous crescent moon curves up to each side behind the cloud. The chubby, nude, baby-like putto nestles on his belly in a cloud between the man and woman. He has short, tousled hair, stubby wings, and his skin is flushed pink. An arrow held in one hand points toward the man, and the putto rests his other hand in a bunch of pink roses. Plants and flowers grow in patches on the ground around the man. The sky above is framed with steel-gray clouds against pale blue.

Educational Resource:  Diana and Endymion

A pale-skinned young woman with copper-orange hair, wearing a turquoise-blue robe, stands in a pastel-infused landscape in this stylized, vertical painting. The woman fills most of the left half of the composition. She faces our right in profile with her head bowed as she looks down at the silver and brown box she holds in her right hand, closer to us. Her body angles away from us so we see her back. Her hair is held back under a gold-colored headand, and her blue robe falls over a white skirt. Beyond her, rocky mountains in ice blue and pale lilac purple span the horizon, which comes about three-quarters of the way up the painting, beneath a pale, rose-pink sky. An area of mottled parchment-white to our right of the person could be a field. Along the bottom edge of the canvas, rounded and organic shapes in scarlet red, turquoise, lapis blue, golden and lemon yellow, and pumpkin orange could be abstracted earth or flowers at the woman’s feet.

Educational Resource:  Pandora's Box

Educational Resource:  What Is Art?