Landscape with Actaeon and Diana 1540 - 1775

This small, undated panel painting shows the classical story of Actaeon and Diana. In it we see a hunting scene which is suddenly interrupted. The hunter Actaeon stumbles upon the goddess Diana and her nymphs bathing in the forest. Angered by his intrusion, Diana transforms him into a stag, and he is then hunted and killed by his own hounds. The story's focus on transgression and punishment speaks to the social structures of its time, and it is a stark reminder of the dangers of challenging established power. We can imagine it hanging in a private collection, where the patron would contemplate the moral of the story and its meaning for his own role in society. Art historians can use a variety of resources, such as period texts, social histories, and institutional records, to help us understand the painting's cultural and historical significance. The meaning of this art, like any art, is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it was made and viewed.