Companion of Diana

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One of Diana's companions commissioned for Marly Park was paid for between 1710 and 1716 and placed in the gardens in 1714. In 1722, it was moved to the Jardin de l'Infante in the Louvre, then transferred to the Hôtel du Grand Maître in Versailles. During the 19th century, the companion passed into private collections, where it underwent significant alterations: the two hands were recarved with modern accessories. From 1951 to 1993, it was loaned to the Archives Nationales. In Roman mythology, Diana was revered as a goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature. She was associated with wild animals and woodland, possessing the power to communicate with and control them. Eventually, she was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, despite having an independent origin in Italy. In ancient Roman religion and modern Roman Neopaganism, Diana is revered as a virgin goddess of childbirth and women. Alongside Minerva and Vesta, she swore never to marry. Oak groves were sacred to Diana, as were deer. According to myth, Diana was born on the island of Delos with her twin brother Apollo, the son of Jupiter and Latona. She formed a triad with two other Roman deities: Egeria, the water nymph who served as her assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.