“Diana and Actaeon” by Titian depicts the moment of surprise when the young hunter named Actaeon unwittingly stumbles on the naked goddess Diana who is enjoying a bath in a spring with help from her escort of nymphs.
The nymphs scream in surprise and attempt to cover Diana, who, in a fit of fury, splashes water upon Actaeon. As a mortal man, he is transformed into a deer with antlers and promptly flees in fear.
The myth of Diana and Actaeon can be found within Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which recounts the unfortunate fate of Actaeon, who, after fleeing after being transformed into a deer, is tracked down by his own hounds and killed because they failed to recognize their master.
The story became popular in the Renaissance and has been depicted by many artists.
The artist of this masterpiece, Titian, was the most famous painter of the 16th-century Venetian school. So much so that his contemporaries recognized him as one of the most accomplished painters,
adept with portraits, landscape, and mythological and religious subjects. His application and use of color, his vivid, luminous tints, his brushwork, and subtlety of tone had a profound influence on Western art.
Diana
Diana, in Roman mythology, was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature, and she had similar attributes to the Greek goddess Artemis. Oak groves and deer were especially sacred to her.
Diana was one of the three maiden goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Since the Renaissance, the myth of Diana has often been represented in the visual and literary arts.
Diana and Actaeon
- Title: Diana and Actaeon
- Artist: Titian
- Created: 1556 – 1559
- Media: Oil paint
- Dimensions: 184.5 × 202.2 cm (72.6 × 79.6 in)
- Type: Mythological Painting
- Museum: The National Gallery, London and National Galleries of Scotland
Titian
- Name: Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio
- Known as: Titian
- Born: c. 1488-1490 – Pieve di Cadore, Republic of Venice
- Died: 1576 (aged about 88) – Venice, Italy
- Notable Works:
- Bacchus and Ariadne
- The Rape of Europa
- Perseus and Andromeda
- Diana and Actaeon
- The Death of Actaeon
Titian: ‘The Death of Actaeon’
Diana and Actaeon
Diana and Actaeon
A Tour of the National Gallery
16th Century Paintings
- “Mystic Nativity” by Sandro Botticelli – 1550
- “Virgin of the Rocks” by Leonardo da Vinci – 1506
- “The Madonna of the Pinks” by Raphael – 1507
- “The Raising of Lazarus” by Sebastiano del Piombo– 1519
- “Salvator Mundi” by Andrea Previtali – 1519
- “Bacchus and Ariadne” by Titian – 1523
- “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger – 1533
- “Mary Magdalene” by Girolamo Savoldo – 1540
- “Saint George and the Dragon” by Tintoretto – 1558
- “The Family of Darius before Alexander” by Paolo Veronese – 1567
- “Diana and Actaeon” by Titian – 1569
- “The Rape of Europa” by Paolo Veronese – 1570
- “The Death of Actaeon” by Titian – 1575
- “The Origin of the Milky Way” by Tintoretto – 1575
Titian’s Diana and Actaeon
17th Century Paintings
- “Supper at Emmaus” by Caravaggio – 1601
- “Samson and Delilah” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1610
- “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary” by Diego Velázquez – 1618
- “The Judgement of Paris” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1635
- “Aurora abducting Cephalus” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1637
- “Equestrian Portrait of Charles I” by Anthony van Dyck – 1638
- “Venus at her Mirror” by Diego Velázquez – 1651
- “The Courtyard of a House in Delft” by Pieter de Hooch – 1658
- “Self Portrait at the Age of 63” by Rembrandt – 1669
- “A Young Woman standing at a Virginal” by Johannes Vermeer – 1670
18th Century Paintings
- “Bacchus and Ariadne” by Sebastiano Ricci – 1713
- “A Regatta on the Grand Canal” by Canaletto – 1740
- “Mr. and Mrs. Andrews” by Thomas Gainsborough – 1749
- “Eton College” by Canaletto – 1754
- “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump” by Joseph Wright of Derby – 1768
- “Self-portrait in a Straw Hat” by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun – 1782
Titian: ‘The Death of Actaeon’
Diana and Actaeon
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“It is not bright colors but good drawing that makes figures beautiful.”
– Titian
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Photo Credit:1)Titian [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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