![]() ![]() ![]() Gainsborough, like many artists before him, has responded to the brief passages of natural description with which Ovid sets the scene for his mythological encounters. As punishment, the goddess splashed water into his face, turning him into a stag, to be hunted to death by his own hounds. The narrative depicted comes from Book III of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses', in which Actaeon stumbles upon the naked Diana and her nymphs in the act of bathing at a pool. This is the only surviving mythological painting by Gainsborough. Shortly after its purchase, the work is recorded as having been placed in store at Carlton House. The Prince of Wales acquired the work for £2 3s, the equivalent of less than £200.00 today. It is either a finished sketch or an unfinished picture, but its brilliance suggests the former. This painting was acquired from the studio sale of Gainsborough Dupont (the artist's nephew) in 1797 it was probably therefore in Gainsborough’s studio at the time of his death in 1788. ![]()
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