Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596 – 1675), Jupiter Appears to Semele

Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596 – 1675) Jupiter Appears to Semele Oil on canvas, 60 x 83 cm – with frame, 79 x 112 cm The scene immortalizes Jupiter's appearance to Semele, one of the most dramatic and tragic moments in Greco-Roman mythology, as narrated primarily by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. The painting shows Semele reclining on a bed, wrapped in a pure white drape, caught at the moment the god Jupiter reveals himself to her, surrounded by fiery clouds and beams of light that pierce the darkness of the room. The mythological tale recounts that Semele, daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, became Jupiter's lover and became pregnant by him. Juno, jealous and furious about her husband's infidelity, disguised herself as an old nurse and convinced Semele to ask her divine lover to show himself to her in all his splendor, just as he appeared before Juno herself. Jupiter, bound by an oath made on the river Styx that obliged him to grant Semele any request, was forced to reveal himself in his true form, surrounded by lightning and thunder. The power of this divine manifestation proved fatal to the mortal, who was incinerated by the lightning. Jupiter, however, managed to save his unborn child by sewing him into his thigh until the time of birth: from this event, Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, was born. The author of the work, Abraham van Diepenbeeck, was a Flemish painter active in the 17th century, whose training began alongside his father, Jan Roelofszone van Diepenbeeck, from whom he learned the art of stained glass. After classical studies, he moved to Antwerp between 1621 and 1623, where he created important stained glass windows, including those for the cathedral of Saint-Jacques, dedicated to the works of mercy, and those for the Dominican church, focused on the life of Saint Paul. In 1623 he became a pupil of Peter Paul Rubens, under whose influence he was stylistically shaped in a decisive manner. In 1636 he obtained citizenship of Antwerp and two years later was admitted to the prestigious Guild of Saint Luke, later becoming director of the city's academy in 1641. After a trip to Italy, which further expanded his pictorial language, he successfully dedicated himself to producing illustrations, including the 59 drawings engraved by Cornelis Bloemaert. He also made a trip to England during the reign of Charles I, where he painted portraits of the Duke of Newcastle and his family and illustrated a treatise on horsemanship. This very subject, the appearance of Jupiter to Semele, had considerable engraving success: it was translated into print by Cornelis Bloemaert the Younger, a Dutch engraver connected to the Flemish environment and a regular collaborator of Van Diepenbeeck, and later by Bernard Picart in France in the 18th century. This testifies to the diffusion and lasting appreciation of this composition among the cultivated European public of the time, always attracted by the great themes of classical mythology reinterpreted with Baroque sensibility.