Workshop of Ludovico and Angelo Picchi
Castel Durante, Italy
Around 1550–60
Tin-glazed earthenware
25.6 cm
Greek myths were among the most common themes of narrative maiolica. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Diana transformed the hunter Actaeon into a stag as a punishment for spying on her and her nymphs whilst they bathed naked in the woods. Unusually, the painter of this dish depicted the moment when the nymphs ridicule Actaeon by showing him his changed appearance in a mirror.