Dish with Diana and her nymphs at their bath

The goddess of the hunt Diana, identified by the blue crescent moon atop her head, rests with her followers beside a sacred pool on this maiolica dish. Viewers of this image would have known what came next. The young hunter Actaeon would unwittingly see the goddess bathing. Transformed into a stag by Diana, he was killed by his own dogs. Maiolica is tin-glazed earthenware. Pigments and glaze fuse in the decorating process, creating vibrant colors that last for centuries. Featuring stories from the Bible, classical mythology, and ancient history, they show the influence of Greek and Roman antiquity on the Renaissance.