Madonna and Diana and Endymion
I promise this isn’t a clickbait title. There is a painting of the goddess Diana created in 1822 that was believed to have been destroyed at the end of World War 1. Is it possible that it’s been hanging in Madonna’s house?
The Painting in Question
Let’s do some background work first. This painting was created by Jérôme-Martin Langlois in 1822. It depicts the Roman goddess Diana falling in love with Endymion who is another mythological figure, a shepherd or hunter or king, either way, he was sickeningly handsome and attracted the attention and affection of a goddess.
Diana and Endymion was commissioned by King Louis XVIII for his Salon of Diana at The Palace of Versailles. The French Third Republic acquired the painting in 1873 and it was displayed at the Musée de Picardie in Amiens, France after that.
During WWI the painting, along with others from the museum’s collection were evacuated to the Louvre, in Paris, for protection. In March 1918 the city of Amiens was bombed by the Germans for 28 days and nights which resulted in the destruction of most of the city and the museum. Safe to say it was the right move to evacuate art that France wanted to protect. At the end of the war, the paintings were returned to the Musée de Picardie but Diana and Endymion was notably missing. Initially, after an investigation, the painting was described as “untraceable since the return on the 1918 removed works” but later that description was changed to “destroyed by the falling of a bomb on the museum”. This is mysterious because if the painting was removed in 1918, before the bombing, how could it have been destroyed by a bomb falling on the museum? But, if the painting was evacuated and didn’t get destroyed, where did it go?
So How Does Madonna Come In?
I promise we’re getting to that. So between the end of the first world war and 2015, the painting was assumed to have been destroyed in the bombing, despite the murky circumstances surrounding the disappearance.
In 2015 is when everything changed. The Queen of Pop herself posted a few photos in her home on Instagram. In the background is a large, beautiful painting. The photos were also published in Paris Match magazine where a curator from Amiens looked more closely at the mysterious painting and concluded that it looked remarkably similar to Langlois’ Diana and Endymion.
The curator brought their theory to the Mayor of Amiens. The Mayor, Brigitte Fouré, posted a video on Facebook appealing to Madonna to loan the painting to the Musée de Picardie. She did this to do something fun and in an attempt to draw some attention to the city of Amiens. “Could you lend us this work for the occasion of our bid to become the European capital of culture in 2028 so our local inhabitants can rediscover this work and enjoy it? That is my prayer, the wish I am presenting to you” (Willsher, 2023). The EU will be announcing the European Capital of Culture in December 2023 so she’s trying to secure a spot in the running. The response to the video was much more than she ever expected, even though there was no response from Madonna herself.
Now let’s talk about the painting. So, Madonna purchased this work perfectly legally at auction in New York for $1.3 million (over three times its estimated price). The painting owned by Madonna is about 3cm smaller than the original painting but experts speculate that it could either be a copy of the original painting, but smaller with no date or signature, or it could have had the date and signature removed by someone wishing to sell it without attracting attention.
The city of Amiens doesn’t contest Madonna’s ownership of the painting or how she acquired it, they acknowledge that it was all done completely above board. It’s worth noting that the museum has lodged legal action against “persons unknown” for the theft of the painting but Fouré says Madonna doesn’t need to be concerned about that at all.
All in all, a very mysterious situation. It would be fun to think that the version Madonna has is the original and it would be great if she did end up lending it to Amiens. I’ll keep you posted!
Works Cited
Willsher, Kim. “Fremch City Believes Madonna may Own Artwork Lost in War - And Asks for Loan”. The Guardian. 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/madonna-painting-amiens-jerome-martin-langlois-loan
“The Curious Case of Madonna and the Missing Old Master”. The Art Newspaper. 2023. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/13/old-master-goes-pop-the-curious-case-of-madonnas-langloi