Pierre Berchet (1659-1720) - Diane's Bath

Late 17th-century oil on canvas in a later molded and gilded frame. Landscape with figures, including Diana and her entourage bathing. Actaeon, surrounded by his hunting dogs, watches, transforming into a stag. Pierre Berchet (1659-1720) The Huguenot artist Berchet was born in France in 1659. A pupil of Charles de Lafosse, he obtained employment in royal palaces at the age of eighteen. He arrived in England in 1681 to work briefly under Rambour (a French architectural painter) before returning to France. During his second stay in England, he received a commission from King William III to help decorate his new palace at Loo, Holland, where he worked for fifteen months. Eventually settling in England, Berchet frequently worked in the homes of the nobility. He painted the staircase of the Duke of Schomberg's house in Pall Mall, as well as the picture of the Ascension on the ceiling of the chapel of Trinity College, Oxford. Towards the end of his life, due to ill health, he confined himself to painting small easel pictures, mainly of a mythological nature. He died in Marylebone, where he had long resided, on 1 January 1720. Engravings of his pictures, by Simon, Vertue, and John Smith, are available. Smith's engraving is for sale.Canvas: 114.5 cm x 89 cmFramed: 134.5 cm x 109.5 cm