Diana en Endymion 1705 - 1754

Curator: There's a palpable dreaminess about this drawing—like peering through rose-tinted glasses at a long-forgotten story. Editor: Indeed. What we're looking at is a preparatory drawing by Jacob de Wit, likely dating from sometime between 1705 and 1754. It depicts "Diana and Endymion," executed with pen and pencil. Curator: Ah, Diana, the huntress of moonlight, descending upon the eternally sleeping Endymion! It resonates deeply with the mythic power of slumber, the quiet surrender to dreams... Do you find yourself lulled by it too? Editor: The image definitely holds that tranquil, suspended quality. The use of a singular color, the reddish-brown, almost sepia tone, evokes nostalgia and a classical romanticism. Visually, Endymion resting on what appears to be a celestial globe really underscores his separation from the mortal realm. Curator: Absolutely! The globe—it’s the world and beyond, encapsulated in a sleeping dream. Diana’s barely-there touch, the tender gazes of the putti, it all suggests that love doesn't demand possession but recognizes freedom, even in eternal sleep. What a gentle intrusion. Or perhaps, no intrusion at all, just… recognition. Editor: De Wit certainly understood Baroque allegories! Diana as a lunar figure with its traditional ties to feminine mysteries. While Endymion is passive, there is something implicitly potent about sleep, that space removed from the daylight, which speaks volumes about what one values and how the culture receives them. This scene has endured across centuries! Curator: Endured, yes—a visual echo of endless adoration in this sepia-toned dream. It also reflects back on how images create stories which influence cultural memories to linger. Editor: So here's to myths then. Myths which continue to give the heart images when language falters.