Barend Graat (1628-1709) - Diana the Huntress and her dogs

Barend GRAAT
(Amsterdam 1628 - Amsterdam 1709)
Diana the Huntress
Oil on wood
H. 33,5 cm ; L. 44 cm
Signed lower right on the stone

Barend Graat was a discreet painter with respect to history. He was a student of his uncle Hans Both. He lived and worked in Amsterdam as a decorative painter for many important families, and specialized in genre scenes, Italian landscapes, and the representation of animals.

Our extended Diana is a magnificent composition that can be dated to the 1670's. This graceful woman has all the attributes of the huntress, and the company of her dogs, which are tended by a valet in the background. The finesse of the treatment of these animals is simply wonderful, as is the woman's flesh. The rosy atmosphere of the composition perfectly places the painting in its period, in the Holland of the 1670s/80s.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)