‘Diana and Actaeon’. Painted by Titian for his patron, King Philip II of Spain, between the years of 1556 and 1559. Inspired by the story of Actaeon in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, an epic poem that retells stories from Greek and Roman mythology. Actaeon, a hunter (left), stumbles across the secret bathing place of Diana (second from right), the chaste goddess of the hunt. Actaeon’s discovery of the naked goddess will have terrible consequences for him.

Symbolism: The hunter and the hunted Symbolism: The hunter and the hunted. These two close-ups from the painting are premonitions of Actaeon’s fate. When Diana is discovered naked by Actaeon, she will seek revenge by turning him into a stag. Here we see a stag’s skull (left) and animal skins hung up to dry in the trees (right).

Symbolism: The hunter and the hunted Symbolism: The hunter and the hunted. In the foreground, Diana is a victim of voyeurism. In the background we see Diana chasing a deer and we're reminded that she's a powerful huntress in Roman mythology.

Symbolism: Power. Actaeon’s powerful hound (left) towers over Diana’s yapping lap-dog (right), showing Actaeon’s power over Diana. This contrast of size and strength is ironic in light of the story’s conclusion – Actaeon is transformed from hunter to hunted in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’.

Attributes: The moon. An attribute is an object in a painting that’s associated with a particular character. Diana's attribute is the crescent moon, which reminds us of her association with Luna, the moon goddess. This symbol made her instantly recognisable to the viewer in Renaissance times.

Slavery. Slavery was an established part of Roman society as well as 16th-century Europe. Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, which inspired Titian to paint ‘Diana and Actaeon’, describes gods and goddesses having slaves. Diana’s slave is a symbol of her power and status. The slave’s muscular figure highlights the feminine curves of Diana’s body.

Paints and pigments. Paints were expensive to produce in Renaissance times and added to the value of the painting. The most expensive paint was the blue of the sky, made from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. The red of the curtain (top left of painting) was also expensive. The red pigment was made from crushed insects.

Aerial perspective: Colour Aerial perspective: Colour. Perspective creates an illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. The distant hills in ‘Diana and Actaeon’ show Titian’s use of aerial perspective. Titian used gradual tonal changes between foreground and background so that the land in the distance appears blue. Using oil paints was the best way of achieving a subtle gradation of colour.

Linear perspective: Foreshortening Linear perspective: Foreshortening. Titian used a technique known as foreshortening to achieve linear perspective. By shortening the length of Actaeon’s arm, Titian creates the impression that it recedes towards a vanishing point.

‘The Death of Actaeon’. When Diana is discovered naked by Actaeon, she seeks revenge by turning him into a stag. Actaeon is then tracked down and devoured by his own hunting dogs, according to Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’.