Dianna, her Nymphs, and Callisto

Art Historical Context

Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings Prints department, *Dianna, her Ns, and Callisto* is a delicate 19th-century Italian, created anonymously between 1800 and 1900. Executed in pen and bistre—a brown ink derived from soot—this intimate work measures just 9-3/8 x 14-1/2 inches, inviting close contemplation. Gifted to the Met in 1887 by Cephas G. Thompson, it a timeless mythological scene from classical antiquity, featuring the goddess Diana (often spelled Dianna in period works) surrounded by her nymphs and the figure of Callisto. The subject draws from Ovid's *Metamorphoses*,...