Diana and Actaeon (Diana Surprised in Her Bath)1836
In a shaded forest pool, the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing when the hunter Actaeon stumbles upon them; for this glimpse she will turn him into a stag, to be torn apart by his own hounds. More about this work
About this work
In a shaded forest pool, the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing when the hunter Actaeon stumbles upon them; for this glimpse she will turn him into a stag, to be torn apart by his own hounds. Corot shows the story from Ovid on a small scale within a broad, carefully structured landscape, the kind of classical composition he submitted to the Salon in the 1830s. The figures are placed among tall trees and still water, so that the drama remains part of nature.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot
French, 1796–1875 · Born and died in Paris.
Corot trained with the landscape painters Achille-Etna Michallon and Jean-Victor Bertin, then spent 1825–28 in Italy, where his small oil sketches of Rome and the Campagna caught its clear light with great economy. He returned to Italy twice and travelled widely in France. His Salon pictures moved from classical landscape to the silvery, misty reveries that made him famous in the 1850s and 1860s, and late in life he painted thoughtful figure studies of models in costume.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1975.1.162
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- Robert Lehman Collection
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
