Diana Leaving for the Hunt (c.1635) Simon Vouet. I had to do a double take when I saw this painting for the first time at the @meteuropeanpaintings when I saw that the painting was by Vouet as this looks nothing like his work during his time in Rome. Vouet presents an idealized vision of the goddess and her nymphs, accompanied by sleek hunting dogs and poised for action. There’s little grit or imperfection here: no earthy palette, no dramatic naturalism. Instead, we have a refined, cool classicism rooted in harmony, clarity, and ideal beauty. After absorbing Italian Baroque influences in Rome, he returned to Paris and deliberately reshaped them into a more classical visual language. Through his Paris workshop, this approach became foundational for a generation of French painters and helped define the emerging aesthetic of the French Academy.