Beautiful Engraving.
Diana and Callisto    after Titian
Etched by Antoine-Jean Duclos (1742 - 1795)
Finished and retouched by Jacques Aliamet (1726 - 1788), Du Roi (Engraver of the King)
'Gravé . . . par Duclos et terminé par J. Aliamet'
After painting by Titien Vecelli (Titian)
Title: Diane Et Calisto

De la Galerie de S. A. St. Monseigneur Le Duc D'Orléans
Venetian school
Etched and burin engraved print

32cm x 43cm sheet
23cm x 37cm the engraved part
19cm x 16cm image
Very good conservation status as per photo. Very minor soiling in edges, not on printed area.
Nicely presented.

Storyline
The pregnancy of Callisto, an attendant nymph of Diana, goddess of the moon, hunting and chastity, is cruelly revealed. Banished by Diana, Callisto was later transformed by Jupiter her seducer, into the constellation of the Great Bear. The powerful gestures and varied poses of Diana and her nymphs complement those in the composition of the companion painting Diana and Actaeon.

Biography

Antoine-Jean Duclos
Antoine-Jean Duclos was a pupil of the draughtsman and engraver Augustin de Saint-Aubin, whose drawings he often reproduced as prints. Adept at the art of engraving and etching on a small scale, Duclos is perhaps best known as a book illustrator, his first efforts in this field coming around 1765. Alongside Charles-Nicolas Cochin and Hubert François Gravelot, he provided illustrations and vignettes for the Almanach iconologique, published between 1774 and 1781, and also contributed illustrations for such works as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Oeuvres and Choiseul-Gouffier’s Voyage pittoresque de la Grèce. Much of his work was in the form of engravings after drawings by other artists, notably Cochin, Gravelot, Charles Eisen, Clément-Pierre Marillier and Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard. Duclos is recorded as exhibiting at the Salon just once, in 1795.

Jacques Aliamet
Jacques Aliamet was a French engraver. His brother François-Germain Aliamet was also an engraver. He perfected drypoint.

Duclos, Antoine-Jean, born 1742 - died 1795 (printmaker)
Aliamet, Jacques, born 1726 - died 1788 (printmaker)