She was bathing in the woods naked when the skillful hunter Actaeon stumbled upon her bathing. Artemis was furious that he stared at her and turned him into a stag, a deer, and he ran away. As he ran his dogs that were hunting with him chased him down thinking he was pry and tore him to pieces (Wilson). In Valerio Castello’s painting of “Diana and Actaeon with Pan and Syrinx” the context of that story is very useful in understanding this painting. Another Greek mythological story that would bring helpful insight to this painting is that of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo was hit by one of Eros arrows of love after Apollo made fun of Eros archery skills, and chased after Daphne, daughter of Ladon the river God. Daphne prayed to another river god and was turned into a tree ("Daphne"). These two stories are evident in this painting, and almost seem to take on their own story. Castello uses almost all of the characters from those Greek stories and puts this in an intense setting, which is evident through the theatrical lighting, locked gazes and wild
She was bathing in the woods naked when the skillful hunter Actaeon stumbled upon her bathing. Artemis was furious that he stared at her and turned him into a stag, a deer, and he ran away. As he ran his dogs that were hunting with him chased him down thinking he was pry and tore him to pieces (Wilson). In Valerio Castello’s painting of “Diana and Actaeon with Pan and Syrinx” the context of that story is very useful in understanding this painting. Another Greek mythological story that would bring helpful insight to this painting is that of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo was hit by one of Eros arrows of love after Apollo made fun of Eros archery skills, and chased after Daphne, daughter of Ladon the river God. Daphne prayed to another river god and was turned into a tree ("Daphne"). These two stories are evident in this painting, and almost seem to take on their own story. Castello uses almost all of the characters from those Greek stories and puts this in an intense setting, which is evident through the theatrical lighting, locked gazes and wild