Selene finding the sleeping Endymion

This representation of a myth recorded by Apollonius of Rhodes (Argonautica, 4:54 ff.) shows the apparition of Selene (sometimes identified as Diana), personification of the Moon, reclining on a cloud and accompanied by a winged putto while staring at her beloved, the handsome shepherd Endymion. He is asleep in the Aeolian woods, but his dog is clearly alert to the goddess’ supernatural presence. Executed by the young Gaspare Diziani with lively washes, the composition is centred on the poses of Selene and Endymion lounging opposite each other. Diziani’s representation of the story appears much indebted to a painting of the same subject executed by his master Sebastiano Ricci at Chiswick House, London (inv. 152). Commissioned by Lord Burlington for his London residence, the painting was completed by Ricci in 1713, when Diziani was a young pupil in his workshop.