Diana and Endymion (mid-1700s): Art, History and Details

Diana and Endymion (mid-1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Nicolas LeSueur (French, 1691–1764); Sebastian Conca (Italian, 1680–1764).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Chiaroscuro drawings were executed on paper colored a middle tone. While black or brown wash was used to create shadows, white gouache (opaque watercolor) was used for highlights. In the early 16th century, German printmakers developed a method to achieve similar effects using woodcut. The outline of the image is printed in black from one block of wood, while the shadows are printed from a second block in a color. For Diana and Endymion, two blocks were used to print two shades of green. The white, unprinted areas of the paper serve as the highlights. The technique of chiaroscuro woodcuts was revived in France in the early 18th century by LeSueur.

Object facts

• Title: Diana and Endymion
• Date: mid-1700s
• Creator attribution: Nicolas LeSueur (French, 1691–1764); Sebastian Conca (Italian, 1680–1764)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: chiaroscuro woodcut
• Dimensions: Sheet: 62.1 x 44.7 cm (24 7/16 x 17 5/8 in.); Image: 44.7 x 31.1 cm (17 5/8 x 12 1/4 in.)
• Collection: PR - Chiaroscuro
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1923.1054

Collection credit

Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.