With a turbulent jumble of swift pen and brush lines, Anthony van Dyck tried out several possible ways of representing the mythical encounter between Diana, the Roman moon goddess, and the young shepherd Endymion, whom she cast into eternal sleep. On the left side of the sheet, overlapping strokes of varying thickness and length begin to coalesce into a coherent composition.
Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641), Diana and Endymion, ca. 1625–1627, pen and brown ink and wash, with white opaque watercolor, on blue laid paper, faded to green gray. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1909, I, 240.