Titian, Diana and Acteon, Oil on Canvas, 1556-9, NG, London

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Titian, Diana and Acteon, Oil on Canvas, 1556-9, NG, London

Comprehensive description:

Lateral format

Forest scene

Stream runs the entire length of the foreground

Diana - right side, seated

Stone basin with relief

Gothic arch

Sky recedes

Dolomite mountains

5 nymphs

Receding landscape in the background

Amphora of water, reflects light and shows intricate brushwork

Discarded bow

Gold mosaic, implies Venetian art with byzantine influence

Acteon hunted in the wood and suddenly came across the figures, revealing flesh as he pulls the drape aside

Analysis:

Movement implied in the dropped bow,

Immediacy important to create the impression of suprise

Dog demonstrates the reversal of the thrust

Skull - symbolism, proleptic of Acteon's fate

Water demonstrates Titian's virtuosity as a painter

The viewer empathizes with Acteon (male audience)

Sparkling light in the water, conveyed through animated brushwork

Light reflects and refracts from the Amphora

Loose brushwork (facture) in the nymphs in the background

A nymph still washes her feet - suggests immediacy of the action

AO4:

Private commission

For the enjoyment of young men to gaze at nude women, celebration of flesh

Sexual/visual feast for a gentleman of the 16th century

Men could show they were knowledgeable of myth

Diana is the Roman goddess of the hunt - she splashes water onto Acteon, he turns into a stag and is attacked by his own dogs

A later work by Titian, Death of Acteon, shows a reversal of the stances of Diana and Acteon, we empathise with Diana. The temple is lost, no water is in the foreground. This painting has more movement and immediacy than Diana and Acteon (looser brush)

Biography:

1490:1576

This is a late work of Titian

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