Editing Callisto (mythology) (section)

==In art==
[[File:Jupiter and Callisto dli 165005559 r cor.tif|left|thumb|A. Duvivier after [[François Boucher]], "Jupiter and Callisto," 19th century, engraving and etching]]

Callisto's story was sometimes depicted in [[classical art]], where the moment of transformation into a bear was the most popular. From the Renaissance on a series of major [[history painting]]s as well as many smaller [[cabinet painting]]s and book illustrations, usually called "Diana and Callisto", depicted the traumatic moment of discovery of the pregnancy, as the goddess and her nymphs bathed in a pool, following [[Ovid]]'s account.  The subject's attraction was undoubtedly mainly the opportunity it offered for a group of several females to be shown largely nude.<ref>There is a good but by no means complete, selection at [http://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/subcats.php?cat_1=5&cat_2=244&cat_3=2345&cat_4=3995 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database, Myths → Callisto's pregnancy discovered by Diana]; more on Wikimedia Commons</ref>

[[File:Karel Philips Spierincks - Jupiter and Callisto.jpg|thumb|right|330px|''Jupiter and Callisto'' by [[Karel Philips Spierincks]]. In the background Jupiter's jealous wife Juno is dragging Callisto by the hair.]]

[[Titian]]'s ''[[Diana and Callisto]]'' (1556–1559), was the greatest (though not the first) of these, quickly disseminated by a print by [[Cornelius Cort]].<ref>Brigstocke, 184</ref>  Here, as in most subsequent depictions, Diana points angrily, as Callisto is held by two nymphs, who may be pulling off what little clothing remains on her.  Other versions include [[Diana and Callisto (Rubens)|one by Rubens]], and ''[[Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto]]'' by [[Rembrandt]], which unusually combines the moment with the arrival of [[Actaeon]].<ref name="Hall, Gods">Hall, Gods</ref>  The basic composition is rather unusually consistent.  [[Carlo Ridolfi]] said there was a version by [[Giorgione]], who died in 1510, though his many attributions to Giorgione of paintings that are now lost are treated with suspicion by scholars.<ref>Jane Martineau (ed), ''The Genius of Venice, 1500–1600'', 207, 1983, Royal Academy of Arts, London</ref>  Other, less dramatic, treatments before Titian established his composition are by [[Palma Vecchio]] and [[Dosso Dossi]].  [[Annibale Carracci]]'s ''[[The Loves of the Gods]]'' includes an image of Juno urging Diana to shoot Callisto in ursine form.

Although Ovid places the discovery in the ninth month of Callisto's pregnancy, in paintings she is generally shown with a rather modest bump for late pregnancy.  With the ''[[Visitation (Christianity)|Visitation]]'' in religious art, this was the leading recurring subject in history painting that required showing [[pregnancy in art]], which [[Early Modern]] painters still approached with some caution.  In any case, the narrative required that the rest of the group had not previously noticed the pregnancy.
Callisto being seduced by Zeus/Jupiter in disguise was also a popular subject, usually called "Jupiter and Callisto"; it was the clearest common subject with lesbian lovers from classical mythology.  The two lovers are usually shown happily embracing in a bower. The violence described by Ovid as following Callisto's realization of what is going on is rarely shown.  In versions before about 1700 Callisto may show some doubt about what is going on, as in the versions by Rubens. It was especially popular in the 18th century, when depictions were increasingly erotic; [[François Boucher]] painted several versions.<ref name="Hall, Gods"/>

During the [[Nazi occupation of france|Nazi occupation of France]], resistance poet [[Robert Desnos]] wrote a collection of poems entitled ''Calixto suivi de contrée,'' where he used the myth of Callisto as a symbol for beauty imprisoned beneath ugliness: a metaphor for France under the German occupation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Desnos|first=Robert|title=Calixto suivi de contrée|year=2013|translator-last=Sanders|translator-first=Todd|orig-year=1962}}</ref>

[[Aeschylus]]' tragedy ''Callisto'' is lost. However, Callisto rejoined the dramatic tradition in the [[Baroque period]] when [[Francesco Cavalli]] composed [[La Calisto]] in 1651.