Diana Raymakers was the daughter of Dr. G. Raymakers from Aarle-Rixtel in the Netherlands. They were vacationing near Fayence and saw Christine’s paintings in an exhibition in Seillans, a nearby village. Being fans of the Dutch painter Carel Willink, they were taken with Christine’s use of symbolism in the background of her portraits; so they commissioned a large portrait of their daughter Diana. I’m not absolutely certain of her name, as Christine’s diary refers to her as “Diana”, but in her portfolio book she lists the painting as “Diane”, although that is the typical French translation of Diana.

In the painting, the subject is posed with very dramatic lighting: a mix of warm yellow electric lighting, presumably coming from a villa’s interior, falling on the front of the subject, set against the cold background of the moonlit landscape behind. Within that landscape is a statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, the moon and chastity. The statue looks very like the one called Diana of Versailles housed in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Additionally, cypress trees are sacred to the goddess and here we have two behind the statue. In the foreground there is a branch of olive leaves, the traditional symbol for peace, perhaps to counteract the hunting aspect of the goddess. Around the subject’s neck you can just make out a St George medallion, which I expect is just the jewellery she chose to wear for the sitting, along with the antique silver Thai arm cuff. I think both pieces of jewellery elevate the setting and make it appear to be more of an evening event. I cannot be sure, but I think the background mountains are the actual foothills and mountains behind Fayence, probably up towards Mons.

The diary also notes that the Raymakers were very pleased with the finished product and gave my mother a larger payment than she had asked. This seems to have been a regular occurrence.

Diary Entries