Claude Lorrain
, French, 1604-1682
Title
Juno Confiding Io to the Care of ArgusDate1660
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
60 x 75 cm
Signedlower left: Claudio IV f. Roma 1660
Credit LineBequeathed, Sir Hugh Lane, 1918
Object numberNGI.763
DescriptionClaude was a French artist who spent most of his working life in Italy. He specialised in idealised Italianate landscapes featuring figures in classical costume. His compositions, executed with great attention to detail yet suffused with a soft light, convey a serene, romantic vision. This scene depicts an episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book I). Ovid relates how Jupiter seduced Io, daughter of Inachus, the first King of Argos. Then in order to conceal her from his wife, Juno, he transformed her into a beautiful white heifer. Juno was not deceived, however, and cunningly asked her husband for the heifer as a gift. Claude depicts the moment when Juno places the heifer into the custody of Argus, the hundred-eyed giant (depicted as a shepherd). This painting was executed as one of a pair, which remained together until 1805. The pendant painting is an evening scene entitled Mercury piping to Argus (private collection), which depicts the subsequent episode in the story. Both works are recorded in the form of drawings in the Liber Veritatis (Book of Truth), which Claude kept from 1635.
March 2016
ProvenanceRemy, Paris, 29 March 1762, Gaillard de Gagny sale, lot 32; Boileau, 6 April 1772, Duc de Choiseul sale, lot 124; Remy, Paris, 8 April 1777, Prince de Conti sale, lot 544; acquired by Langlier; Christie's, London, 3 March 1803, Walsh Porter sale, lot 44; acquired by Major Price; Phillips, London, 6 April 1805, R. Heathcote sale, lot 96; acquired by Charles Hanburry Tracey, later Lord Sudeley in 1838; by descent; Christie's, London, 27 May 1882, Anonymous sale (Sudeley), lot 94; acquired by Lesser for A. Coats; Christie's, London, 3 May 1914, A. Coats sale, lot 124; acquired by Sir Hugh Lane; bequeathed Sir Hugh Lane, 1918 Exhibition HistoryBritish Institution, London, 1821
British Institution, London, 1832
Loan Exhibition of Works by Old Masters and Scottish National Portraits, Edinburgh, 1883
Pictures by Old Masters Given and Bequeathed to the National Gallery of Ireland by the Late Sir Hugh Lane, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1918
Le paysage français de Poussin à Corot, Petit Palais, Paris, 1925
L'ideale classico del Seicento in Italia e la pittura di paesaggio, Bologna, 1962
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964
The Art of Claude Lorraine, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1964
The Art of Claude Lorrain, Hayward Gallery, London, 7 November - 14 December 1969
Le Classicisme Français: Masterpieces of 17th century Painting, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 30 April - 9 June 1985
Master European Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 6 June - 9 August 1992; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 19 September - 6 December 1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 13 January - 28 March 1993; IBM Gallery, New York, 27 April - 26 June 1993
Von Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, 22 March - 6 September 2015; Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016
Label TextClaude specialised in Arcadian landscapes featuring figures in classical costume. He became renowned for the way in which he filled his compositions with a warm golden light. This scene depicts an episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (ad 8). Jupiter seduced Io, the daughter of Inachus, King of Argos. To conceal Io from Juno (his wife), he transformed her into a white heifer. Juno was not deceived and she cleverly asked her husband for the heifer as a gift. Claude shows Juno placing the heifer into the custody of Argus, the hundred-eyed giant (depicted here as a shepherd).