Diana 

Henri Fantin-Latour painted this oil on canvas, Diana, sometime in the late nineteenth century. Fantin-Latour specialized in still life and portraits, but he also produced imaginative works inspired by mythology and music. Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, was a popular subject for artists. The story goes that she demanded absolute chastity from her followers. Fantin-Latour presents her here as a vaguely classical nude, reclining languidly in a forest setting. The loose brushwork and dark palette are typical of the French Realist movement, of which Fantin-Latour was a part, but the subject is quite traditional. The revival of classical subjects in painting coincided with the rise of academic art institutions in France. Artists were trained to represent the human body in idealized ways. As art historians, we can use exhibition records, art criticism, and artists’ writings to uncover the complex negotiations between tradition and modernity in nineteenth-century French art. The study of these resources helps us understand how academic institutions shape art and society.