TheDiana of Versailles orArtemis, Goddess of the Hunt (French:Artémis, déesse de la chasse) is a slightly over-lifesize[1] marble statue of the Roman goddessDiana(Greek: Artemis) with a deer. It is now in theMusée du Louvre, Paris.[2] The statue is also known asDiana with a Doe (French:Diane à la biche),Diana Huntress (French:Diane chasseresse), andDiana of Ephesus. It is a partially restored Roman copy (1st or 2nd century CE) of a lost Greek bronze original attributed toLeochares,c. 325 BCE.[3][4]
Diana is represented at the hunt, hastening forward, as if in pursuit of game. She looks toward the right and with raised right arm is about to draw an arrow from herquiver. Her left arm has been restored, and a deer has been added at her feet, although one might have expected a dog.[5] Her left hand is holding a small cylindrical fragment, which may be part of what was once abow. She wears a shortDorianchiton, ahimation around her waist, andsandals. Her second toes are longer than her big toes, a condition known asMorton's toe.[6]
The statue was given byPope Paul IV toHenry II of France in 1556[7] with a subtle but inescapable allusion to the king's mistress,Diane de Poitiers. It was probably discovered in Italy. One source suggests theTemple of Diana (Nemi), an ancient sanctuary;[8] another positsHadrian's Villa atTibur.[9]
"Alone amongst the statues exported from Italy before the second half of the seventeenth century theDiane Chasseresse acquired a reputation outside Italy equivalent to the masterpieces in theBelvedere or theVilla Borghese",[10] though its admirers generally confused it with theArtemis at thetemple of Ephesus.[11] It was installed as the central feature of the Jardin de la Reine (today's Jardin de Diane) laid out west of the Galerie des Cerfs at theChâteau de Fontainebleau; there it was the most prominently displayed and among the first Roman sculptures to be seen in France.
In 1602,Henri IV removed it to thePalais du Louvre, where theDiana was installed in a gallery specially designed to receive it, the Salle des Antiques (now theSalle des Caryatides). At the time, its restorations were revised byBarthélemy Prieur. In 1696 it was installed in the Grande Galerie (Hall of Mirrors) ofVersailles byLouis XIV.[12] As one of France's greatest treasures, theDiane Chasseresse returned to the Louvre inAn VI (1798) of theFrench Republican calendar (Haskell and Penny 1981:196).[13][14] It was restored once more, in 1802, by Bernard Lange.[15]
In 1605, after the marble Roman statue had been removed from Fontainebleau, Barthélemy Prieur cast a replacement, a bronze replica which was set upon a highMannerist marble pedestal, part of a fountain arranged by the hydraulics engineerTommaso Francini in 1603. The fountain incorporated bronze hunting dogs and stag's heads spitting water, sculpted byPierre Biard [Wikidata], and was located in the Jardin de la Reine, with aparterre surrounded by anorangery.[16][17]
At the time of theFrench Revolution, Prieur's bronze was sent to the Louvre, but in 1813, EmperorNapoleon offered it toEmpress Joséphine to decorate herChâteau de Malmaison. At the same time, he ordered the present bronze, a replica cast by the Keller brothers in 1684 and formerly at theChâteau de Marly (demolished 1806), be placed on the fountain at Fontainebleau. Prieur's bronze was later returned to the Louvre and only in the 20th century was it brought back to Fontainebleau, where it was placed in the Galerie des Cerfs.[17]
Comparable Roman replicas of the same model, noted by the Louvre's website, have been found atLeptis Magna (Libya), atAntalya (Turkey) and alsoAnnaba (Algeria).[citation needed]
Besides the modern era replicas by Prieur and the Keller brothers, a full-size bronze replica was made in 1634 byHubert Le Sueur forCharles I of England, the brother-in-law ofLouis XIII.[18] ForMarly, a marble copy was executed byGuillaume Coustou in 1710. In the second half of the 18th century, numerous replicas of all sizes were created in bronze, plaster, and lead (Haskell and Penny 1981:197).
A miniature replica of the Diana of Versailles statue was a feature atop one of the first class reception room fireplaces on board the sunken ocean linerRMS Titanic for her maiden voyage in April 1912.
After the wreck of the Titanic was located in September 1985 byRobert Ballard, Ballard carried out a further expedition to the wreck site a year later in 1986, and discovered the Diana of Versailles statue within Titanic’s vast debris field which is scattered across a large section of the ocean floor. The statue was located near to the bow section of the wreck and it was the first time it had been seen in person for over 70 years.
Until the rediscovery of the Diana of Versailles statue in September 2024, many experts had previously believed that it had been consumed by the seabed due to it not being spotted on any other expeditions to Titanic since it was initially photographed in 1986.
On a 2024 expedition to the wreck the statue was sighted within the Titanic’s debris field where it was subsequently photographed and documented in preparation for its recovery in 2025.[19]
