Diana und Endymion

By 1705 Francesco Solimena was the leading painter in Naples, courted by patrons across Europe, and he handled the old story of Diana and Endymion the Neapolitan way, with strong light against deep shadow. The shepherd Endymion lies asleep under the moon, and the moon is the goddess Diana herself, come down and caught staring at him. Solimena floods the moonlight over the young man's body so it does the work the story needs: Diana's infatuation shows in her face while cupid waits nearby to loose an arrow. This is love kept at a distance, admired rather than acted on. The deep shadows and theatrical light come straight from an older Naples painter, Mattia Preti, whose dark manner Solimena had absorbed as a young man.