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

Titian, Diana and Acteon, Oil on Canvas, 1556-9, NG, LondonComprehensive description: Lateral formatForest sceneStream runs the entire length of the foregroundDiana - right side, seatedStone basin with reliefGothic arch Sky recedesDolomite mountains5 nymphsReceding landscape in the backgroundAmphora of water, reflects light and shows intricate brushworkDiscarded bowGold mosaic, implies Venetian art with byzantine influenceActeon hunted in the wood and suddenly came across the figures, revealing flesh as he pulls the drape asideAnalysis: Movement implied in the dropped bow,Immediacy important to create the impression of supriseDog demonstrates the reversal of the thrust Skull - symbolism, proleptic of Acteon's fateWater demonstrates Titian's virtuosity as a painterThe viewer empathizes with Acteon (male audience)Sparkling light in the water, conveyed through animated brushworkLight reflects and refracts from the AmphoraLoose brushwork (facture) in the nymphs in the backgroundA nymph still washes her feet - suggests immediacy of the actionAO4:Private commission For the enjoyment of young men to gaze at nude women, celebration of fleshSexual/visual feast for a gentleman of the 16th centuryMen could show they were knowledgeable of mythDiana is the Roman goddess of the hunt - she splashes water onto Acteon, he turns into a stag and is attacked by his own dogsA 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:1490:1576This is a late work of Titian