Diana and Actaeon

Resource added
The oil painting is set in an outdoor bath and depicts eight total figures, with two people (Actaeon and Diana) as the central figures. Actaeon is the sole male in the scene on the left, while Diana sits on the right with her six nymphs spread horizontally across the painting. Actaeon, dressed in a light brown tunic, appears in mid-stride and extends both his arms upwards in a gesture of surprise. Diana is depicted with pearl decorations in her hair, and faces Actaeon with her hand holding up a white cloth to cover her body. Actaeon’s large collard dog is closeby on his right, and a small lap dog stands next to Diana with a hostile reaction to Actaeon’s arrival. Diana and her nymphs are all nude and display a variety of expressions, including (from left to right) one looking towards Diana in worry, one with her back turned to us, two looking downward, and one peering behind a column.

Full description

Diana and Actaeon is the fourth of seven paintings made by Titian for King Phillip II, and was painted using the same style as the fifth painting named Diana and Callisto. The oil painting (185 cm × 202 cm) portrays a scene from the second story in book three of Metamorphoses by Ovid, in which the hunter Actaeon (Prince of Thebes) stumbles on the sacred pool of Diana (equated with Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis). Diana and her nymphs had chosen to bathe after a long successful hunt, and Actaeon’s unintentional arrival startled them. Diana’s six nymphs try to cover her, and in panic, Diana splashes Actaeon with water and transforms him into a stag. Now robbed of his ability to speak, Actaeon fled in fear. Before long, Actaeon’s own hunting hounds track him down and kill him.

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  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    151 KB
  • creator
    Tiziano Vecellio (latinized as Titianus and known in English as Titian)
  • rights
    As a royal commission and part of Titian’s poesie series, the first owner of the painting was King Philip II of Spain. The work remained in the Spanish royal collection until 1704, and it was thereafter acquired by the Duke of Orleans, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, and 7th Duke of Sutherland. In 2009, funds were secured from gallery campaigns to purchase the painting from the Bridgewater Collection for £50 million. Diana and Actaeon is now displayed on a five-year alternating basis in the National Galleries of Scotland and National Gallery in London, and specifically with its pair Diana and Castillo in the UK.
  • rights holder
    The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the National Gallery, London (NGL)
  • rights territory
    Scotland and London