Diana on a Chase 1805

Curator: This is Washington Allston's "Diana on a Chase," a large canvas measuring over six feet high, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Wow, it’s like a stage set, isn’t it? All grandiose mountains and gauzy light. You almost expect the curtain to rise. Curator: Note how Allston employs layering, using the trees and figures in the foreground to frame the distant, almost ethereal, mountain range. Editor: Yeah, and Diana and her crew look like they’re rushing headlong into a dream. It's beautiful but a bit…melancholy? Curator: Perhaps that’s because Allston never truly finished the piece. His struggle for perfection may have imprinted itself on the canvas. Editor: Makes you wonder what he would have changed. Still, there's a lot to see here. Thanks for pointing it out. Curator: Indeed. A testament to the power of landscapes and enduring mythologies.