COLOUR STUDY

Colour palette

#392A21
#6B432F
#B6A8A2
#CABFB9
#82766B
#A9826A

Approximate colour proportions

#392A2125.8%
#6B432F23.7%
#B6A8A214.8%
#CABFB912.7%
#82766B12.3%
#A9826A10.7%

Estimated from six colour groups in the museum image, including visible paper or borders. Reproduction and lighting affect the result; these are image-area proportions, not pigment measurements.

Accent colours

Small, vivid details detected in the image. These areas are already included in the dominant groups above; their percentages are not added to the total.

#B04D47≈ 0.29%

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image licence: CC0 · Museum record & image source ↗

Flanders · c. 1615

Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt

Peter Paul Rubens

Date: c. 1615
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 261 x 225 x 11 cm (102 3/4 x 88 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 216 x 178.7 cm (85 1/16 x 70 3/8 in.)
Country / context: Flanders
Movement / tradition: European and American art
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Attribution / role: Museum attribution
Pathway: European and American art ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, wears a crescent on her forehead, also identifying her as the moon goddess. Diana lived apart from men, accompanied by a group of nymphs; she often represented unattainable beauty or chastity. With a nymph at left fending off a lustful satyr, Rubens refers to a struggle between vice and virtue, combining a sensual display of female bodies with a moral undertone. To bring the viewer more fully into the narrative, Rubens pulls the full-bodied figures to the front of the picture plane, and Diana steps forward, activating the space between viewer and subject. The nymph at the right has the features of Isabella Brant, the artist’s wife, and can be compared with Rubens’s portrait of her, also in the museum's collection.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

Place in the artist’s career

Compare the painted hunting scene, the multi-figure drawing and the late Bear Hunt study. Different supports and degrees of finish test movement before or alongside larger projects. Follow diagonals, body turns and the use of light or colour to connect figures; a rapid study can be an intentional tool rather than an incomplete final picture.