Diana and Actaeon (Titian)

Diana and Actaeon
Artist	Titian
Year	1556–1559
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	185 cm × 202 cm (73 in × 80 in)
Location	National Gallery and Scottish National Gallery, London and Edinburgh

Diana and Actaeon is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Titian, finished in 1556–1559, and is considered amongst Titian's greatest works. It portrays the moment in which the hunter Actaeon bursts in where the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing. Diana is furious, and will turn Actaeon into a stag, who is then pursued and killed by his own hounds, a scene Titian later painted in his The Death of Actaeon (National Gallery).

The particular situation is typically located in a woodland area with very few structures aside from small works like walls and fountains. Titian rewrites this traditional motif by placing his characters in the arched stone ruins of a forest temple.^[1] Diana is the pale woman second from the right. She is wearing a crown with a crescent moon on it and is being covered by the dark skinned woman at the extreme right who may be her servant. The nymphs display a variety of reactions, and a variety of nude poses.

In 2008–2009, the National Gallery, London and National Galleries of Scotland successfully campaigned to acquire the painting from the Bridgewater Collection for £50 million. As a result, Diana and Actaeon will remain on display in the UK, and will alternate between the two galleries on five-year terms.