Zeus i nimfa Kallisto: An 18th-Century Etching at Royal Łazienki Museum

This artwork, titled 'Zeus i nimfa Kallisto', is an etching and engraving created in 1777 by René Gaillard after a painting by François Boucher. It depicts the mythological story of Zeus seducing the nymph Callisto. The print was published in Paris by Denis-Charles Buldet.

The artwork 'Zeus i nimfa Kallisto' (Zeus and the Nymph Callisto) is a significant print from 1777, executed in etching and engraving by René Gaillard, based on a work by the renowned painter François Boucher. The piece illustrates a well-known episode from Greek mythology, where Zeus, in disguise, seduces the nymph Callisto, a follower of Artemis. The description details Callisto's lineage, her devotion to Artemis, and Zeus's deception. The print was published in Paris by Denis-Charles Buldet, and it is dedicated to Antoine-Jean-Baptiste Hervé d’Arbonne, the royal minister of waters and forests. This particular print is noted as the first of three etchings illustrating the story of Callisto in a Parisian edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The subject matter, drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses, allowed for ample depiction of the female nude and intimate scenes, a common theme in art history, with Boucher having revisited the myth in various works. The print itself is notable for its technical execution, combining etching and engraving, and its dimensions are precisely recorded as 43.5 x 51.2 cm for the full sheet. The inscriptions on the work clearly attribute the original design to F. Boucher and the engraving to R. Gaillard, along with the publisher's details. This artwork is part of the collection of the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw. The page also lists other related works by or featuring the artists, providing a broader context of their contributions and the museum's holdings.