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17th century Flemish Old master painting "Diana and Callisto" attributed to Victor Wolfvoet the Younger
Our painting is based on Rubens' great work of the same name which hangs in the Prado. Inspired by the paintings by Titian which Rubens saw when he visited the Spanish court in Madrid from late August 1628 until April 1629 and whose technique and emotional intensity he admired, he produced his painting of Diana and Callisto after his return to Antwerp. In it he offers a reinterpretation of Titian’s version of the myth, a warm depiction filled with empathy and mercy. Rubens’s transformation of the myth can be linked to his personal life. Since his marriage to his second wife Helena Fourment in December 1630, he painted numerous idyllic scenes complete with personal allusions that are expressions of love at full bloom. It has been observed that in his painting, the nymph looks remarkably like his beloved wife Helena, also her hairstyle is the same as Rubens’s wife wears in several portraits of her. Rubens’s use of a female type inspired by his wife is sometimes explained because she was a convenient model but it most certainly is also a reflection of his love for her, as they were a enamoured couple. Inspired by this great work, Victor Wolfvoet created his own version of it, with some variations as can be seen in the pose of the dog to the left and the color of the fabrics that Callisto is being clothed with.
Victor Wolfvoet the Younger was born in Antwerp in 1612 as the son of Victor Wolfvoet the Elder, a painter and art dealer, and Brigitta Voorwercx. He became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke around 1644-5 and some sources refer to Wolfvoet as a pupil of Rubens. The artist's estate comprised a substantial collection of artworks of seven hundred items. The inventory of his estate lists twenty sketches by Rubens, including several designs for the ceilings of the Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp and six bozzetti for the Triumph of the Eucharist tapestry series. There are also sketches by other artists, many unattributed sketches and framed grisailles, and a number of sketches after Rubens. Some of the sketches were likely in Wolfvoet's own hand, like his copies after Rubens' Abraham and Melchizedek and Manna from Heaven both now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague. The large collection of works has been regarded as evidence that the artist may also have been active as an art dealer. His oeuvre has long remained in obscurity and has only recently been placed back into the spotlight it deserves. A copy of an article published on the artist in the Burlington magazine will be included in the information pack for the buyer. Many of Wolvoet's works are small-scaled works on copper, ours is one of his larger works.
The oil on copper measures ca. 70,5 by 87 cms and with the frame ca. 100 by 118 cms.
Provenance: private collection Spain
Information regarding the composition and creation of Rubens' "Diana and Callisto" was obtained from the Prado museum.
