Study of the Statue of Diana in the Vatican [verso] 

Curator: This is a delicate pencil drawing by Benjamin Robert Haydon titled, "Study of the Statue of Diana in the Vatican," likely made during one of his study trips. It's more impression than statement. Editor: I see the goddess rendered with such… hesitancy, as though Haydon were shyly approaching the divine. It feels like a whispered prayer more than a bold declaration. Curator: Right, that hesitant hand might betray the deep respect classical sculpture held for artists of Haydon’s generation. Diana, or Artemis, the huntress – potent symbol. She represents independence, the wild, the untamed feminine. Editor: But that very untamed aspect seems… softened here. Almost domestic. She’s usually shown with a bow and arrow, fiercely defending the forest. I see a simple dress. This feels like Diana contemplating a quiet hunt in her backyard. Do you see what I mean? There are only suggestive lines of her drapery that point her femininity without agency. Curator: True, there's a vulnerability. Maybe that's what drew Haydon. Diana is an archetype, but also a woman caught in stone. Her agency and ferocity can also become still and be translated onto a marble structure that’s been captured as part of Vatican collections for many centuries. Think of Haydon attempting to resurrect grand historical painting! It almost mirrors that struggle – capturing epic scale with human emotion. Editor: An artist's struggle echoed in the goddess herself. This makes me think how the original Greek sculpture symbolized cultural appropriation, becoming something static as opposed to representing the lively energy that Greek society experienced it. Interesting to meditate on who gets to translate whom and which contexts. Curator: And whether the energy transfers or gets fossilized, ha! I agree! Maybe that tentativeness is him acknowledging that complexity in trying to draw an ancient figure from a specific cultural milieu. Editor: That humility—that quiet contemplation—becomes the heart of this piece, more profound than any triumphant fanfare. Curator: Agreed, so instead of an Amazon warrior frozen in marble, we have Haydon frozen in thought, trying to find that human pulse within.