Artwork
Diana and her Companions, Diana after the Chase
Diana and her Companions, Diana after the Chase is an unspecified painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Abraham Janssens I. It dates from 1613 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Overview
Abraham Janssens I painted *Diana and her Companions, Diana after the Chase* in 1613. Executed during the height of the Flemish Baroque, the work presents the Roman goddess of the hunt surrounded by her retinue after a successful pursuit. The composition is held by the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, where it remains a key example of Janssens’s mythological output.
Subject & Meaning
At the centre stands a partially nude Diana, crowned with a laurel wreath, bow in hand, her hair gathered in curls. She is flanked by attendants in vivid garments, all turning toward a fallen stag that lies on the ground, a hunting dog sniffing the carcass. The scene captures the moment after a hunt, emphasizing Diana’s role as protector of wildlife and patron of the chase.
Technique & Style
Janssens employs a dramatic chiaroscuro reminiscent of Caravaggio, using strong contrasts of light and shadow to model the figures and highlight the gleam of the bow and the flesh of the deer. The palette is rich, with saturated reds and blues that animate the companions, while the composition’s diagonal thrust conveys movement and tension typical of early 17th‑century Flemish Baroque.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the Alte Pinakothek’s collection in the 19th century, where it has been displayed as part of the museum’s Baroque holdings.
Active between 1575 and 1632, Janssens was a leading Flemish history painter before the rise of Peter Paul Rubens. *Diana after the Chase* was created in 1613, a period when the artist focused on large mythological subjects influenced by Italian tenebrism. The painting entered the Alte Pinakothek’s collection in the 19th century, where it has been displayed as part of the museum’s Baroque holdings.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Abraham Janssens I, Abraham Janssen I or Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen (1575–1632) was a Flemish painter, who is known principally for his large religious and mythological works, which show the influence of Caravaggio.
