DIANA AND ACTEON - BY PIERRE BERCHET 1659–1720.

Late 17th century oil on canvas in a later moulded and water gilt frame. Landscape with figures including Diana and her attendants bathing. Acteon looks on, surrounded by his hunting dogs, transforming into a stag.

Peter (Pierre) Berchet (1659-1720) 
Huguenot artist Berchet was born in France in 1659. He studied under Charles de Lafosse, and at the age of eighteen obtained employment in the royal palaces. He came to England in 1681 to work briefly under Rambour (a French painter of architecture) before returning to France. On his second visit to England he received a commission from King William III to assist in the decoration of his new palace at Loo in Holland, where he worked for fifteen months.

Finally settling  in England, Berchet  found extensive occupation in the houses of the nobility. He painted the staircase of the Duke of Schomberg's house in Pall Mall, and the picture of the Ascension on the ceiling of the chapel of Trinity College, Oxford. During the latter part of his life, in consequence of ill-health, he was confined to painting small easel pictures, which were chiefly of a mythological character. He died in Marylebone, where he had long resided, on 1 Jan. 1720. There are engravings from Berchet's pictures by Simon, Vertue and John Smith. Smiths engraving of his painting is offered for sale
Higher resolution images on request. 
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Internal Ref: 00019
Canvas: 45.5" x  35" , 114.5cm x 89cm
Framed: 53" x 43" , 134.5cm x 109.5cm