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Photos in order of appearance: Anna Hyatt Huntington (American, 1876-1973), Diana of the Hunt, 1922 (recast 1960-1), bronze (photograph, 2012).

Diana was the Roman goddess of women and patroness of the hunt, represented here by her hunting dog and bow. Her role as earth-bound huntress is complemented by her identity as the goddess of the moon, and Diana’s placement in the Cummer Gardens bridges these earthly and heavenly roles. Balanced atop an earthly globe, the lithe figure of the goddess stretches upward after shooting an arrow toward her celestial attribute, the moon.

In 1960, while the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens was still under construction, artist Anna Hyatt Huntington offered to have her sculpture, Diana of the Hunt, recast so that it could be placed in the gardens of the new museum. The artist had a long history of installing her sculptures in gardens. She and her husband Archer Huntington (1870-1955) established Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, an elaborate display garden with a large collection of outdoor sculpture.