Lot number 3424 - Auction 150
DIE JAGDGÖTTIN DIANA IN EINER SÄULENARKADE MIT BOGEN, KÖCHER UND MONDSICHEL VOR EINER TOSKANISCHEN LANDSCHAFT MIT BURGANLAGE

IN THE MANNER OF FRANCESCO DEL COSSA OR PINTURICCHIO (ACTUALLY BERNARDINO DI BETTO DI BIAGIO) Around 1435 in Ferrara - 1477 in Bologna - Around 1452 in Perugia - 1513 Siena THE HUNTING GODDESS DIANA IN A COLUMNED ARCADES WITH BOW, QUIVER AND MOON BEFORE A TUSCAN LANDSCAPE WITH A CASTLE Tempera on wood panel, diadem and brooches gilded. 38 x 26 cm (F. 45 x 33 cm'). Partially min. old rest., slightly old min. retouching in the lower right, additions, craquelure. Frame. This finely crafted panel shows an idealized representation of the Roman goddess Diana, recognizable by her attributes of a bow, quiver, and crescent moon on her head. In Roman and humanistic Renaissance iconography, Diana represents not only hunting, but also purity, independence, and feminine strength. She was often used as an allegory for chaste love or as a personification of virtue in courtly portraiture. Diana is shown as a frontal half-figure between two ancient columns, with a view of the landscape and finely worked details, such as the ornate textiles and the magnificent diadem. The strictly contoured execution, the light modeling of the flesh tones, and the linear composition are strongly reminiscent of works from the Ferrara school, such as those by Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de' Roberti, or Pinturicchio, and point to an origin in central Italy between 1470 and 1490. An attribution to the Ferrara or Umbrian school is plausible. Provenance: South German private collection.