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Date : between 1585 and 1592
Material : Oil on canvas
Acquisition : (1939)
| Item 6 on 16
European Painting
Painting
Area related
Italy
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| Description |  |
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Bassano's later reputation was largely based on his introduction of realistic, rural elements into his paintings, even those representing sacred and mythological subjects. "Diana and Actaeon", for example, includes a pre - Alpine landscape such as the one visible from Jacopo's hometown of Bassano del Grappa, and depicts a hunting party in contemporary dress.
The style of this painting differs from that of Bassano's earlier "Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist" : the artist's brushstrokes have become looser, and the contrasts between light and dark areas more intense. The tonality of "Diana and Actaeon" is predominantly silvery, evoking a moonlit atmosphere. These changes reflect the influence of the late style of the elderly Titian (1480/85-1576) and that of Tintoretto (1518 -1594).
The myth of Diana (the Greek goddess of the moon and hunt, originally named Artemis) and Actaeon (a Theban prince) is recounted in Ovid's first - century poem "Metamorphoses". According to the Roman poet, while Actaeon was out hunting, he inadvertently came upon the virgin goddess as she bathed in her secret grotto. To punish him for seeing her in the nude, the goddess sprinkled Actaeon with water, thereby magically transforming him into a stag. The unfortunate youth was torn to pieces by his own hounds.
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