# Diana Turns Actaeon into a Stag [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BALEN, Hendrick van]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on copper, 36 x 46 cm ## Commentary Diana Turns Actaeon into a Stag c. 1605 Oil on copper, 36 x 46 cm Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest The story with Diana and Actaeon was a favourite with the late Mannerist painters. This is understandable, because the myth, particularly in Ovid's playful, witty and lively presentation, contains both stimulatingly erotic and shivering horror story elements and thus was perfectly suited for the contemporary spirit. In Balen's painting Diana's figure is placed in the centre in a regal position. Over the head of the virgin goddess, Cupid is holding a crown of flowers. The action is developed in depth and the light falling on the women bathing in the clearing in the background indicates that the scene is located in a shadowy wood. The artist painted his figures according to Italian models. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of Abundance]() - [Bacchus and Diana]() - [Banquet of Achelous]() - [Diana Resting after the Hunt]() - [Diana Resting after the Hunt]() - [Feast of the Gods]() - [Herse and her Sisters with Mercury]() - [Holy Trinity]() - [Minerva and the Nine Muses]() - [Odysseus as a Guest of the Nymph Calypso]() - [The Feast of Achelous]() - [The Judgment of Paris]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()