The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Jupiter (in the guise of Diana) and Callisto

1733

Jacob de Wit

(Dutch, 1695–1754)
Netherlands
black chalk, pen and ink, brown and gray wash, watercolor, gouache, white heightening and brown ink framing lines
Sheet: 48.6 x 34.9 cm (19 1/8 x 13 3/4 in.); Matted: 54.8 x 40.3 cm (21 9/16 x 15 7/8 in.); Platemark: 44.8 x 30.8 cm (17 5/8 x 12 1/8 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 2023.45
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The elegant hunting dogs in this composition appear in the background in a faint vignette that features Diana hunting a deer with a bow and arrow.

Description

The beautiful Callisto was a follower of the goddess Diana. According to Ovid’s Metamorphosis, she was seduced by Jupiter, who fooled her by appearing in the guise of Diana. Here, the eagle at Diana’s back is the only indicator that Jupiter is present. Such scenes of the loves and misdeeds of the gods were popular in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 1700s, and Jacob De Wit’s primary employment was making large paintings destined for the dining and sitting rooms of stately homes. De Wit also made finished drawings, as here, which were prized for their fresh colors, easy movements, and playfulness.
  • Jonas Witsen, Amsterdam (1705-1767)
    Hendrik van Maarseveen. His sale, Amsterdam, 28 October 1793, lot B3 (with its pendant Jupiter and Mnemosyne)
    J. Goll van Franckenstein (L. 2987), with his number N° 3784. (verso)
    Baron Isendoorn à Blois. His sale, Amsterdam, 18 December 1879, lot 180 (probably to Langerhuizen)
    P. Langerhuizen. His sale, Amsterdam, 29 April 1919, lot 689 (with Jupiter and Mnemosyne)
    Gebr. Douwes, Amsterdam
    W.J.R. Dreesmann
    with Haboldt & Co., Paris, until 2003
    private collection, France, until December 2022
    ?-2023
    (Onno van Seggelen Fine Arts, Rotterdamn, The Netherlands), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 5, 2023-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Staring, Adolph. Jacob de Wit, 1695-1754. [Aangeboden aan de leden van het Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap ter gelegenheid van zijn 100-jarig bestaan]. Amsterdam: P.N. van Kampen, 1958. p. 193, no. 95; illustrated.
    te Rijdt, Robert-Jan A. “Jacob de Wit,” Delineavit et Sculpsit (March 1997). no. 17, p. 62, note 2.
  • {{cite web|title=Jupiter (in the guise of Diana) and Callisto|url=false|author=Jacob de Wit|year=1733|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.45