Diana and Her Nymphs being Surprised by Acteon [after Joseph Heintz (Swiss, 1564-1609)]

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Diana and Her Nymphs being Surprised by Acteon [after Joseph Heintz (Swiss, 1564-1609)]

Artist Johann Theodor de Bry (Franco-Flemish, 1561-1623)

Datelate 16th-early 17th Century

Dimensionsimage: 4 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. (12.4 x 12.1 cm)
sheet: 5 1/16 x 4 7/8 in. (12.9 x 12.4 cm)

MediumEngraving

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineWilliam J. Hitchcock Fund in Memory of Grace J. Hitchcock

Object number

1990.101

Not on View

Label TextUsually known as Actaeon Being Transformed into a Stag by Diana, this print shows the unfortunate Theban hero and hunter Actaeon as he stumbles upon the goddess Diana and her entourage of bathing nymphs. Details of the story and Actaeon’s transgression vary; however, his ultimate fate, being torn apart by his own hunting hounds after the virginal Diana turns him into a stag, remains consistent. This print, after Joseph Heintz’s design, shows the hero in the early stages of his encounter with the vengeful goddess. In the print by Theodor de Bry (Johann’s father) also displayed here, the goddess has begun to transform Actaeon into a stag.Published ReferencesLeBlanc, Charles, Manuel de L'Amateur D'Estampes, reprint, Amsterdam, 1970 (original edition, Paris, 1854), p. 540, no. 18. Wurzbach, Alfred von, Niederländisches Künstler-Lexicon, vol. 1, Vienna and Leipzig, 1906, p. 219, no. 10. Hollstein, F. W. H., Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts ca. 1450 -1700, vol. IV, Amsterdam, 1952, p. 30, no. 10 (illus.). [Berlin, Staatlichen Kunstbibliotek.] Katalog der Ornamentisch-Sammlung der staatlichen Kunstbibliothek, 2nd ed., New York, 1958, (original ed., Berlin 1939), vol. II, p. 532, no. 4288 (5). (sales catalog) Ornements Architecture, La Sirène, Paris, 1990, no. 394.Exhibition HistoryTMA, Storytelling in Miniature, October 7, 2011-March 4, 2012.