User:Claireckm/Diana and Actaeon (Titian)

The sections under 'Provenance' are untouched and simply copy and pasted from the original article, the Lead has been edited, and all other sections are entirely new writing.

Lead

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, completed in 1556–1559. It captures the moment when the hunter Actaeon bursts in where the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing. Diana is furious, and changes Actaeon into a stag, who is then pursued and killed by his own hounds, a scene Titian later painted in The Death of Actaeon.

Created during the artist's final years, the painting marked a shift in style from the artist.

The painting was part of a series commissioned by King Philip II of Spain, known as Titian's Poesie. The series includes seven works, all with a similar theme and format to Diana and Actaeon.

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.

Subject Matter

Myth Background

The painting's subject matter comes from the myth of Diana and Actaeon, which originates from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Ovid's stories of Metamorphoses were well known during Titian's time period, and many other artists during the Renaissance period turned to them for inspiration.

In the literature surrounding the myth, it is also suggested that Diana's punishment of Actaeon might have stemmed from the mortal's comments that he was a more skilled huntsman that the goddess of the hunt herself. This was first suggested in Euripides's Bacchae as well as in the readings of Diodorus Siculus, and is a common example of mortal hubris and divine repercussions common in Classical mythology. Titian would have been aware of this additional background as both the writings of Euripides and Diodorus were widely read in Venice at the time.

Visual Analysis

In this work, the mortal Actaeon ventures away from his fellow hunters, and stumbles upon Diana and her nymphs, bathing in a hidden seclusion of the woods. The goddess, in a fit of rage at his interruption, splashes water from the pool on Actaeon, transforming him into a stag. He is subsequently fatally hunted down by his own hounds. Titian's painting represents the dramatic instant that Diana reacts to Actaeon. Diana is the woman on the right side of the painting. This is indicated by the crescent moon headdress she wears, as she is the Roman goddess of the moon. In his correspondence with Phillip II, Titian refers to the painting under a different title, Diana at the Fountain Surprised by Actaeon, emphasizing that the painting is meant to focus more on the act of Actaeon's intrusion as opposed to his subsequent transformation into a stag. The background of the composition alludes to a subsequent work by Titian, The Death of Actaeon. Between the trees Diana can be glimpsed pursuing a stag (the transformed Actaeon).

Titian portrays Diana's indignation through her expression and body language. The goddess' face is turned down with her brows furrowed, her arms have come up in the midst of reaching for an article of fabric to cover herself. The dark-skinned woman to her right, likely a servant, aids her with this task. Her body is turned to the side, shying away from Actaeon. Titian captures the shame and emotion felt by the goddess that prompts her to transform him into a deer. Actaeon himself raises his hands in self-defense, already aware on some level of the offense he has just committed and fearful of the deadly repercussions he is about to face. In his surprise the mortal has dropped his bow, which remains at his feet. However, it is unclear as to whom Actaeon is looking at, as it is not definitive that he is looking towards Diana. Some scholars such as author Ian G. Kennedy, have stipulated that he is focused on the nymph gazing back at him from behind the pillar, and has not realized he is in the presence of Diana yet. There are at least five visible nymphs surrounding the goddess, who display a variety of reactions, some dismayed and others intrigued. Some reach for coverings or hide behind pillars, while others gaze at Actaeon in blatant curiosity. Despite the seductiveness of Titian's renderings of the female nude, the artist maintains the decisively somber tone of the scene through other elements.

The scenery of the painting indicates Actaeon's imminent demise. The goddess's hideaway is adorned with the remains of her conquests. 20th century Art historian, Ellis Waterhouse, referred to the deer's skull placed above Diana as "a gruesome reminder of Actaeon's fate". The skull of the stag also serves as a reminder of Diana's role as goddess of the hunt. The skull is joined by two deer skins hanging amongst the trees, one with the head still attached. There is also a threatening nature to the shadows surrounding the group, as stormy clouds form in the sky behind and a rising wind blows through the trees overhead.

Titian includes minute details that mitigate the myth's tension. The hounds depicted in the foreground engage in their own conflict, humorously barking at each other from the safety of the feet of their respective owners. The platform on which the nymphs sit upon appears slightly crooked as well, bowing with the nymphs' weight.

Composition

Titian's Later Style

Many critics have posed that in his final years Titian began to develop a different style. His final works were most notably characterized by a much narrower color range, hazier brushwork and his works included more tragic subjects. The techniques utilized in the creation of Diana and Actaeon and other works produced by Titian during this period were distinct from earlier paintings produced by the artist. There is less definition of form, rather a suggestion of form rather than a strict representation of life. Many audiences considered the works in this series to be more alive and spontaneous.

The composition of Diana and Actaeon is not only similar to other works in Titian's collection, but also to other Venetian Renaissance artists. In essence, Venetian artists excelled at the technique of layering and blending color in order to create brilliant effects of light and shadow. Titian was primary artist attributed with the artistic convention of 'colorito', which refers to the technique of handling the pigment as opposed to the use of bold colors. This technique appears in Diana and Actaeon, through the soft illumination of velvety fabrics and the glowing skin of the goddess and her nymphs. Natural in his depiction, Titian's figures remain fairly idealized, with luminescent finishes and less defined forms. This series marked a shift in European painting where an artist's ability to evoke natural appearances was regarded just as highly as the fundamental form.

The figures are neatly arranged drawing the viewer's attention towards Actaeon himself. As the other figures in the composition form a triangular shape with Actaeon at one point, and Diana at another. Thus the viewer's eyes are immediately drawn to Actaeon as the central character of the narrative.

Art historians such as Charles Hope suggest that Titian's shift in style could indicate that the artwork was unfinished, stating that while Diana's face and arms received the most attention, other areas such as the hounds and legs of Actaeon appear to be roughly sketched. It is speculated that the picture was still in Titian’s studio when the artist passed, with some areas having been touched up by the artist's assistants.

Historical Context

Commission

The picture is one of a series of seven (originally six) famous mythological paintings Titian called 'poesie', made for King Phillip II of Spain. Titian employed the term ‘poesie' for the collection because he considered them to be visual manifestations of poetry. As a well established Renaissance master, Diana and Actaeon was warmly received in Venice prior to its departure to Spain. Many other Venetian artists produced replicas and variations of the work.

The artist's relationship with King Philip II was formed through his relationship with the monarch's father Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain before Philip II. Titian first encountered Philip II when summoned to create portraits of both the father and son in 1549. Shortly after this encounter, Titian sent the young prince a variation of another of his works, Danaë. The monarch and artist met again the following year, where it was arranged for Titian to create and send pieces pertaining to mythical or religious subjects. The artist was compensated greatly and this arrangement would continue up until the artist's passing in 1576. Thus King Philip II became Titian's most important patron of his career, as the 'poesie' are generally regarded to be some of the artist's most important work.

Diana and Actaeon was the fourth to be completed in Titian's series, and was planned as a counterpart to another work, Diana and Callisto. The first two of the 'poesie', Danaë (c. 1551–3) and Venus and Adonis (c. 1553–4), were both reproductions of previous paintings done for other patrons. The two reproductions hailed the creation of Perseus and Andromeda (c. 1554–6), to be followed later by the Rape of Europa (c. 1559–62). Three years after King Phillip II received Perseus and Andromeda, Titian sent both Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto. As a pair, they share central characters and compositional iconography, a stream appears in the foreground of both works. The two paintings have remained together throughout their exhibition history, being separated on only a handful of occasions.

The Death of Actaeon is the final work in Titian's 'poesie' series, although not originally considered to be part of the collection as the painting remained in the artist's studio until his death. Historians included the painting in Titian's 'poesie' series due to its similarity in format and subject matter to the other six works. The Death of Actaeon takes place directly following Diana and Actaeon and can be glimpsed in the background of the work.

Provenance

To 2005

Diana and Actaeon is part of a series of seven famous canvases, the "'poesie's", depicting mythological scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses painted for Philip II of Spain (after Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor had declined Titian's offer to paint them for him). The work remained in the Spanish royal collection until 1704, when King Philip V gave it to the French ambassador. It was soon acquired by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, nephew of Louis XIV, and Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, for his collection, one of the finest ever assembled. After the French Revolution, the Orleans collection was sold to a Brussels dealer by Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1791, two years before he was guillotined. This dealer then exhibited many pictures from the collection (including the Titians) in London.

The largest share of the collection was thus bought in 1798 by the coal-magnate Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, including this painting, Titian's Diana and Callisto (from the same mythological series of seven paintings), eight paintings by Poussin, three Raphaels and Rembrandt's Self-Portrait, aged 51.

The third Duke of Bridgewater was probably inspired to buy the paintings by his nephew, Earl Gower, the ancestor of the Dukes of Sutherland. Certainly, on Bridgewater's death five years after the purchase, he bequeathed the Titians and the rest of the collection to Gower, who put it on display to the public in his London house – it has been on public display ever since. On first seeing the collection there, William Hazlitt wrote "I was staggered when I saw the works ... A new sense came upon me, a new heaven and a new Earth stood before me.". On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the collection was moved from London to Scotland. Between 1945 and 2009, the Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto (with other paintings from the collection, known collectively as "the Bridgewater loan" or "the Sutherland Loan") were on long-term display at the National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh. As well as Hazlitt, during their time on public display they have inspired artists such as J. M. W. Turner and Lucian Freud – Freud described the pair as "simply the most beautiful pictures in the world".

2008–present

The Sutherland collection has passed by descent to the 7th Duke of Sutherland, (most of whose wealth is contained in the paintings collection), but in late August 2008 the 7th Duke announced that he wished to sell some of the collection in order to diversify his assets. He had offered them as a pair to the British national galleries at £100 million (a third of their overall estimated market price) if they could demonstrate, by the end of 2008, the ability to raise that sum – if not, the pair or other paintings from the Bridgewater collection would be put on public auction early in 2009. Within days of the Duke's decision, the NGS and the National Gallery, London had announced they would combine forces to raise the sum, initially in the form of £50 million (or a demonstration that this money could be raised) to purchase Diana and Actaeon and paid over three years in installments and then £50 million for Diana and Callisto paid for similarly from 2013.

Though the campaign received some criticism for the Duke's motives or (from John Tusa and Nigel Carrington of the University of the Arts London) for distracting from funding art students, it gained press support from both the tabloid and broadsheet print media in the UK – imitative nude photoshoots of it were featured in both The Sun (using the newspaper's Page 3 models photoshopped onto the painting) and The Mirror (including the actor Kim Cattrall and featured in a piece by Andrew Graham-Dixon on The Culture Show). On 14 October 2008 the appeal received £1 million from the Art Fund and on 19 November this was followed by £10 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. From 22 October to 14 December 2008 it was put on display in Room 1 of the National Gallery in London to aid the public appeal – the only other painting in this temporary exhibition was the related The Death of Actaeon from the London National Gallery's collection, and they were illustrated by the relevant passages from Book 3 of Ovid's Metamorphoses in the John Dryden translation.

Speculation began when the original 31 December deadline passed without definite news and the Scottish Government's announcement of a contribution of £17.5 million in January 2009 triggered a political row, with Ian Davidson questioning the deal at a time of economic hardship. There was also controversy over attempts to dilute the guarantee that the duke would sell no other of the paintings from the Sutherland Loan should the two Titians be bought. However, on 2 February 2009 it was announced that, thanks to the deadline being extended to raise more funds and finalise the payment plan for Diana and Callisto, the £50 million had been raised and Diana and Actaeon would be acquired. The final sum was made up of £12.5 million from the Scottish Government, £7.4 million from public donations, £12.5 million from the National Galleries in London, £10 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, £2 million from the Monument Trust, £4.6 million from the National Galleries of Scotland and £1 million was secured from the Art Fund. Diana and Actaeon will thus be displayed in Scotland for five years, then in London alongside The Death of Actaeon for five years, on an alternating basis.

Titian's 'poesie' series for Philip II

• Danaë, delivered to Philip 1553, now Wellington Collection, with earlier and later versions.
• Venus and Adonis, Museo del Prado, delivered 1554, and several other versions
• The Rape of Europa, c. 1560–1562, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• Diana and Actaeon, 1556–1559, owned jointly by London's National Gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh
• Diana and Callisto, 1556–1559, owned jointly by London's National Gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh
• Perseus and Andromeda, Wallace Collection, c. 1553–1562
• The Death of Actaeon, National Gallery, never delivered and not always counted in the series, c. 1559 onwards

• 
  Danaë
• 
  Venus and Adonis
• 
  Diana and Actaeon
• 
  Diana and Callisto
• 
  Perseus and Andromeda
• 
  The Rape of Europa
• 
  The Death of Actaeon