Diana omhelst Endymion in zijn slaap 1641

Editor: This engraving, "Diana embracing the sleeping Endymion", was created in 1641 by Jacques Belly. The texture looks rough, created with fine lines and the diagonal hatching makes me feel it almost vibrates with energy! What is your interpretation? Curator: Considering it’s an engraving from the Baroque period, it is fascinating how the story highlights a deity interacting with a mortal, playing into notions of divine power and earthly beauty. This image taps into very old societal expectations about beauty. Think about the power dynamics. What message does the composition convey about the idealised forms of femininity and masculinity represented here? Editor: I see what you mean! Diana has agency as the active viewer and is much more traditionally 'beautiful,' while Endymion is passive, the object of her gaze, so he seems more masculine due to that agency reversal... I hadn't thought about it. How might contemporary audiences have viewed it, in terms of those gender expectations and also just, say, its role as an engraving? Curator: It circulated in a very different public sphere! In the 17th century, prints like this would have been circulated among educated elites. Discussing the mythology and identifying with these idealised figures was a status symbol, which helped establish social standing within those elite circles. Editor: It sounds almost like owning art today as an investment or even sharing an art-filled Instagram profile: visual consumption and display became ways of signifying status. Curator: Precisely! Considering Jacques Belly’s Diana and Endymion prompts a broader reflection on the shifting function of art within a changing social and political landscape. Editor: Thank you, I will look at this piece with new eyes from now on. It has prompted so many thoughts on gender representation.