Diana and Her Nymphs Bathing

In the *Metamorphoses*, Ovid described how nymphs bathed Diana, goddess of the hunt, in a stream of clear water. Jean-François de Troy portrayed the moment after the bath, when the nymphs are drying Diana’s body and refastening her tunic; to the left a nymph attempts to shield Diana’s nudity from the sight of a lecherous river god, who watches voyeuristically from the side and becomes a stand-in for the viewer. The creamy flesh with its pink blush, and the warm palette of autumnal and pastel colors, give the picture its erotic charge — the same manner as its pendant *Pan and Syrinx*, also in the Getty collection. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.