Full title | Arcas Hunting |
---|---|
Artist | Andrea Schiavone |
Artist dates | active about 1530; died 1564 |
Series | Two Mythological Scenes |
Date made | about 1550 |
Medium and support | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 18.8 x 18.4 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1860 |
Inventory number | NG1883 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This is one of three mythological scenes to decorate a cassone, or chest, illustrating the story of Callisto as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Jupiter seducing Callisto, also in the National Gallery, decorated the other end.
Arcas, son of Jupiter and Callisto, draws back his bow. A bear emerges from the woody undergrowth on the left. The green of the foliage surrounding the bear has darkened over time to brown, making it difficult to see. Gold leaf glimmers through the sunlit trees and a breeze sweeps back Arcas’s hair, which, like his bow, arrow and quiver, has been highlighted with gold. The delicate beauty of this scene belies the tragic events about to unfold.
The front of the cassone showed Callisto’s fellow nymphs revealing her pregnancy by Jupiter to the goddess Diana (Musée Picardie, Amiens). Furious, Diana turned Callisto into a bear. Here, Arcas goes out hunting and, not realising that the bear is his mother, he shoots her dead.
This is one of three mythological scenes telling the story of Callisto as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ovid’s poetry was a popular source among artists of stories from Greek and Roman antiquity.
Golden-haired Arcas, the son of Jupiter, draws back his bow. His billowing crimson-vermilion cloth reveals his athletic naked body from behind. The head of a bear emerges from the woody undergrowth on the left but it is difficult to see the animal today, as over time the copper green glazes of the surrounding foliage have darkened to brown. Gold leaf glimmers through the sunlit trees and a breeze sweeps back Arcas’s hair, which, like his bow, arrow and quiver, is highlighted with gold.The delicate beauty of this scene belies the tragic events about to unfold.
This little painting, about 18 cm square, was made to decorate the end of a wooden chest, known in Italian as a cassone. It is painted on canvas and would probably have been glued to a thin wooden panel. Cassoni were important pieces of furniture used for storing clothes and household linen. A bride’s parents would give her a cassone as a wedding gift and she would take it with her to her marital home. These chests were frequently painted with the coats of arms of the two families joined by the marriage, or decorated with religious scenes or cautionary legends about love. They were often placed at the foot of the couple’s bed.
Jupiter seducing Callisto was the first episode of the story and decorated the other end of the chest. The nymph Callisto was a favourite of the goddess Diana. While Callisto was resting in a leafy glade, Jupiter appeared disguised as Diana. He seduced Callisto and made her pregnant.
In the long painting for the front of the cassone (Musée Picardie, Amiens) Callisto’s fellow nymphs reveal her pregnancy to a furious Diana, goddess of chastity. When Diana discovered that Callisto was pregnant, she turned her into a bear. In the third episode of the story, seen here, Arcas goes out hunting and, not realising that the bear is his mother, he shoots her dead.
The streaks of gold painted on Arcas’s hair, bow, arrow and quiver, and his fluttering drapery, turn this horrific event into a charming, decorative scene. Perhaps the choice of subject was to remind the new bride who owned this cassone always to be faithful to her husband. The quality of Schiavone’s paintings must have been greatly admired – these pictures had already been detached from their cassone by 1779 and were displayed in a Venetian art collection.
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Two Mythological Scenes
These are two of three paintings made to decorate the front and sides of a wooden chest, known in Italian as a cassone. They depict the story of the nymph Callisto, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Such chests were important pieces of furniture used for storing clothes and household linen. A bride would be given one by her parents as a wedding gift and she would take it with her to her marital home.
Jupiter seducing Callisto is the first episode depicted. While Callisto was resting in a leafy glade, Jupiter appeared disguised as Diana, goddess of chastity. He seduced Callisto and made her pregnant. In the long painting for the front of the cassone (Musée de Picardie, Amiens) Callisto’s fellow nymphs reveal her pregnancy to Diana. When Diana discovered that Callisto was pregnant, she turned her into a bear. In the third episode of the story the bear is shot dead by Callisto’s son Arcas, who does not realise that it is his mother.
These are two of three paintings made to decorate the front and sides of a wooden chest, known in Italian as a cassone. They depict the story of the nymph Callisto, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The two small paintings, each about 18 cm square, decorated the ends of the chest. They are painted on canvas and would probably have been glued to a thin wooden panel. Cassoni were important pieces of furniture used for storing clothes and household linen. A bride’s parents would give her one as a wedding gift and she would take it with her to her marital home. These chests were frequently painted with the coats of arms of the two families joined by the marriage, or decorated with religious scenes or cautionary legends about love. They were often placed at the foot of the couple’s bed.
Jupiter seducing Callisto is the first episode of the story. The nymph Callisto was a favourite of Diana, the goddess of hunting and of chastity. While Callisto was resting in a leafy glade, Jupiter appeared disguised as Diana. He seduced Callisto and made her pregnant. In the long painting for the front of the chest (Musée de Picardie, Amiens) Callisto’s fellow nymphs reveal her pregnancy to a furious Diana. When Diana discovered that Callisto was pregnant, she turned her into a bear. In the third episode of the story, Arcas Hunting, Arcas goes out into the woods and shoots the bear dead, not realising that it is his mother.
Schiavone was especially known for his lively handling of paint. Here he has used gold for light in the clouds and on the foliage as well as on the drapery. The quality of Schiavone’s paintings must have been greatly admired – these pictures had already been detached from their cassone by 1779 and were displayed in a Venetian art collection.


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