Diana at Rest

Given the forested setting of François I’s Château of Fontainebleau, in which this image was made, the centrality of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, is not surprising. As we see in this and many other images originating from Fontainebleau, Diana is shown not only in her role as huntress, but also in a position of power over men. Here, the goddess, though reclining on the ground, is still at the ready; she is accompanied by two hounds, one of which pokes his head affectionately through her bowed arm, and three game animals, a stag, a boar, and a badger, who all bow to her. But Primaticcio intends Diana’s dominion of another sort over us, the (presumed male) hunter coming upon her in the forest; fixing us with a seductive gaze, Diana pulls an arrow from her quiver to indicate that the viewer is her next victim.