Diana with Nymphs and the Day’s Kill

Here the chaste deity, Diana, and her nymphs relax at the end of a successful day out hunting: she has placed a triumphant foot on a slain roe buck. The crescent on her forehead identifies her as the goddess of the moon. She is the protectress of women and girls, mistress of animals, and goddess of the hunt; but as she remains unmarried, she also symbolizes freedom without boundaries. The boisterous greyhounds best express her joie-de-vivre. The artist was inspired by van Dyck’s rather than by Rubens’ ideal of beauty.