Diana and Endymion

Part One

Luca Giordano

"Diana and Endymion" 1675-1680

Oil on Canvas

Neapolitan 1634-1705

National Gallery Of Art 1991.20.1

Part Two

In this painting there are two figures. Diana is floating above Endymion while he is sleeping. Endymions dogs are watching at his feet.

Diana, Endymion and one of his dogs are in the center of the painting. It seems most of the focus is on Endymion because his whole body is visible and in the light. Diana's upper body can be seen but her lower half is faded out to black. The other dog is in the bottom left corner. It is very dark so you can only see his head, mostly his eyes and nose. The lines of Endymions staff, left forearm right leg and Diana's right forearm all lead the viewer from various points at the edge of the painting to their two heads. That is the cornerstone of the story. Endymion is lying on the ground asleep propped up against a boulder. His two dogs are at his feet both are sitting up. It appears that Diana is coming down to him from out of the sky. The position of her head and shoulders make her look as if she is floating because I think it would be hard to stand in such a way. The figures take up most of the painting leaving little room for the background.

The painting is deep. It looks like it goes back about 100 feet because you can not see anything past the tree behind Diana and Endymion. The artist gives the impression of the depth most obviously in the relationship of the scale of the figures to the scale of the tree. Diana and Endymion are much larger than the tree making it appear far away. While there is some background most of the action is taking place close to the viewer. Luca Giordano also uses other forms of perspective like layering. An example of layering in this painting would be, Endymions staff is in front of him, he is in front of the dogs and the dogs are in front of Diana. He also uses atmospheric perspective. This is best shown in the blurryness of the background. There is high contrast shadowing in Diana's shin. The highlights are close to the shadows making a pattern of highlight then shadow highlight then shadow.

Endymion is laying down on the ground taking up most of the bottom half. He is sleeping. Diana is in the center of the top half of the painting. Her body suggests motion; she is moving closer to him carefully so she won't wake him. The dogs are at the bottom left corner of the painting. One is looking at Diana and Endymion; the other is looking at the viewer.

I am guessing that Endymion is a shepherd. He appears poor for a few reasons. One he is laying on the ground and his shoes are not much more than a piece of bark held by on by a string. The edge of his skirt is frayed. There is a bright red cloth wrapped around him I think it might be a blanket. You can not see much of Diana's clothing. There is a white filmy cloth wrapped around her shoulders, her breast is exposed. She has a bright blue fabric draped around her it seems to be more for decorative purposes because it does not cover much of her.

The painting takes place outdoors. I like to think it is in a remote corner of a forrest.

There are other objects in the painting. Endymions staff, a small horn, a tree stump and a tree, the dogs leash and a small moon above Diana's head.

The painting is almost life size. It is almost my height and five or six times wider than I am. It's the perfect size to get lost in. I really felt drawn into it.

The majority of the painting is dark and muted. The sky is dark and brown, it is night time. The flesh tones are the lightest colors making them stand out the most. Diana's skin is lighter than Endymions. Aside from the figures the two other most noticeable colors are the blue fabric around Diana and the red fabric around Endymion.

It is night time