Diana's Nymphs

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Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, rests with her nymphs in the shade. The statue in the background most likely depicts the young Prince Actaeon who, during a hunt, trespassed upon Diana and her companions bathing. To punish the intruder, Diana turned Actaeon into a stag to be pursued by his own pack of hounds.

This sensual and complex composition is one of Watts’s earliest known nude subjects. The artist would later play a major part in the revival of the female nude in British art.