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 the apparition of Jupiter to Semele, one of the most dramatic and tragic moments in Greco-Roman mythology, as primarily narrated by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The painting shows Semele lying on a bed, wrapped in a pure white cloth, captured in the moment when the god Jupiter appears to her, surrounded by fiery clouds and beams of light piercing the darkness of the room.

The mythological story tells that Semele, daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, fell in love with Zeus and became pregnant by him. Juno, jealous and furious over her husband's betrayal, disguised herself as an elderly 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 sworn on the Styx to fulfill Semele's every request, was forced to reveal himself in his true form, surrounded by lightning and thunder. The power of this divine manifestation proved fatal for the mortal woman, who was incinerated by the thunderbolt. Jupiter, however, managed to save his unborn child by sewing him into his thigh until the moment of birth: from this event was born Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy.

The artist, Abraham van Diepenbeeck, was a Flemish painter active in the 17th century. His training began with 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, focusing on the life of Saint Paul. In 1623, he became a pupil of Peter Paul Rubens, under whose influence he developed a decisive stylistic influence. In 1636 he obtained citizenship of Antwerp and two years later was admitted to the prestigious Guild of Saint Luke, becoming director of the city's academy in 1641. After a trip to Italy, which further expanded his pictorial language, he successfully devoted himself to producing illustrations, including the 59 drawings engraved by Cornelis Bloemaert. He also traveled 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 apparition of Jupiter to Semele, enjoyed considerable success in engraving: it was in fact translated into engraving both by Cornelis Bloemaert the Younger, a Dutch engraver linked to the Flemish circle and a regular collaborator of Van Diepenbeeck, and, subsequently, by Bernard Picart in France during the 18th century, testifying to the diffusion and enduring appreciation of this composition among the cultured European public of the time, always attracted by the great themes of classical mythology reinterpreted with Baroque sensibility.

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