I talo - F lemish S chool
circa
1580
3. Diana and Acteon
Pen and brown ink and wash on blue paper, heightened with white. Made up from two pieces of paper
270 x 455 mm
Numbered on the verso in black chalk: K 238; A0146; 25
A very popular subject the sheet, with its distinctive facial types has defied attribution. Suggestions, but none
convincing, have been to: Hans Speckaert, Joseph Heintz, and other artists working at the time of Rudolph II.
When the goddess Diana was hot and weary from the hunt, she went to a woodland cave to bathe in the clear waters
of a pool fed by a spring. Entering the arched grotto, she handed her javelin, quiver and bow to one of her nymphs and
her cloack to another. A third nymph bound her long hair into a knot while others drew water in large jars from the
spring and poured it over her. At that very moment Acteon, who had been hunting on a mountain nearby, was making
his way through the unfamiliar woods with hunting dogs and came to the cave where Diana was bathing. The nymphs
shrieked at his sight of a man and rushed to shelter their naked and blushing mistress. Surrounded by her nymphs,
Diana turned aside and looked back over her shoulder. Then bending as though she wished her arrows were at hand, she
scoped up some water, which was at hand, and sprinkled it in Acteon’s face, challenging him to tell others, if he could,
how he had seen her without her clothes. Suddenly antlers started growing where the water touched Acteon’s brow and
he was changed into a stag. Even his own hunting dogs did not recognize him and, thinking he was a wild animal,
chased him and tore him to pieces 1 .
( GG )