Nudes in a Landscape (possibly Diana and Callisto)

Nudes in a Landscape (possibly Diana and Callisto) — Cornelis van Poelenburgh. c. 1642–67.

Medium: black ink wash over graphite, and red chalk on cream antique laid paper. Dimensions: Support: 25.7 x 33.3 x 0.3 cm (10 1/8 x 13 1/8 x 1/8 in.); Image: 19.5 x 25.3 cm (7 11/16 x 9 15/16 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

In this drawing, the Amsterdam painter Cornelis van Poelenburch combined a loose, monochromatic ink wash landscape with red chalk figures in the foreground. The figures depict the story of Diana and Callisto, when Callisto’s pregnancy with Jupiter's child is revealed to the chaste goddess of the hunt Diana. Van Poelenburch began to draw with red chalk during a journey to Italy, where it was a more common artist’s medium than in the Netherlands. Back in Amsterdam, he kept red chalk as part of his practice, perhaps to call attention to his Italian sojourn.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.