Diana and Actaeon

The commission

Diana and Actaeon is one of six large mythologies that Titian produced for King Philip II of Spain between 1549–62. The project seems to have been conceived when Titian met Philip, first at Milan in 1548, and then at the Imperial Diet at Augsburg in the winter of 1550–1, on both of which occasions he also painted the prince’s portrait.
Titian was allowed exceptional freedom in choosing the subjects, which are drawn from Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses'. The commission stimulated him to create the most ambitious and magnificent works of his entire career. Titian coined the term ‘poesie’ for his elegiac compositions, because he regarded them as the visual equivalents of poetry.
The first two mythologies, 'Danae' (1549–50) and 'Venus and Adonis' (about 1552–4), were variations of pictures Titian had painted before. In 1556, the year Philip was crowned king of Spain, Titian sent him 'Perseus and Andromeda', to be joined later by the 'Rape of Europa' (1559–62).
Three years after the 'Perseus', Titian sent Philip 'Diana and Actaeon' and 'Diana and Callisto'. Designed as pendants (a stream flows from one to the other), the two paintings have remained together throughout their history. Another late poesia destined for Philip but never sent is The Death of Actaeon, now in the National Gallery. In this work, Titian movingly depicted Actaeon, transformed into a stag by Diana, being torn to death by his own hounds.

Subject

The story of Actaeon is recounted in 'Metamorphoses' (Book III, 138–255). Ovid tells how the noble young hunter, separated from his friends after a day’s stag-hunting, inadvertently stumbles upon Diana, chaste goddess of the hunt, refreshing herself in the waters of a shady grotto.
Titian shows Actaeon bursting onto the scene and causing consternation among Diana’s virgin nymphs, several of whom seek hastily to cover their voluptuous nudity. Not all appear entirely dismayed at the intrusion but Diana’s indignant response is unambiguous.
As her Ethiopian handmaiden helps cover her with a shift, she casts Actaeon a terrifying sidelong glance that presages her cruel act of revenge. Actaeon raises his hands in surprise as though already half aware of the deadly price he must pay for trespassing into the goddess’s domain.
The scene is rich in portents anticipating Actaeon’s demise: the grotto is draped with the skins and skull of Diana’s former prey, while in the background is a tiny vignette of the huntress chasing a stag, a foretaste of Actaeon’s destiny as depicted in The Death of Actaeon.
Titian alleviates the story’s tragic dimension with amusing details: Venus’s lapdog yaps at Actaeon’s athletic hound from the safety of the far bank. The bathing platform appears to lurch under the nymphs’ weight, and water gushes from a lion mask half concealed beneath one nymph’s bottom.