The Death of Actaeon – National Gallery
I had a couple of hours to spare on Friday morning so I decided to go to the National gallery and sit on the comfortable leather sofas in room number thirty. As I sat down there I noticed the man sitting next to me had a video camera in his hand. A security guard walked up to him, he had long hair swept over his face with a thick matching beard and he was not alone, he was with a stern angry headmistress type woman with a scowl on her face. The security guard said:
“Sir, if you continue filming we’re going to confiscate that camera from you.”
The man pretended he didn’t understand.
“We’re just going to take it from you. Put it in your bag. Put it in your bag. In the bag. In the bag.”
The man then took what must have been about a whole minute to slowly put the camera away. The security guard walked off and the woman added an extra ‘You watch out’ scowl at him, and she stayed scowling at him as she walked back to her chair and she didn’t take her eyes off him.
The video camera man got up and put his hands in his pockets and casually walked around, the woman scowled and didn’t take her eyes off him. I followed him out of the room and he just strolled around half heartedly looking at paintings.
I left him and went to another room where I saw a friendly woman giving a talk about a painting to a group of twenty school children, all about the age of five.
“Now why is she so easy to spot?” She asks.
“Because she’s positioned there!” shouts a boy, pointing at the painting.
“Because she’s gonna kill the man there!” Shouts another.
“Because she’s at the front and she’s got a bow and she’s got, what’s the thing where you keep your arrows called?” She asks.
Silence.
“It starts with Q”
“Q!!”
“Q!!”
Shout two different boys.
“No. Qui”
“Qui!! Qui!!!” Shout another few.
“Queeeee!” shouts another.
The lady exhales:
“It’s a quiver.”
“Quiver!” Shout about four boys and girls.
“And what is funny about this woman?” She asks.
“She has an bow!”
“Look how she’s dressed. What’s strange about how she’s dressed?”
Embarrassed silence.
She helps them: “One of her boobies has fallen out of her dress, hasn’t it?”
No one moves, is she really allowed to say this?
“Why do you think that is? Do you think she meant that? No. So why? She got dressed in a hurry, didn’t she? Why do you think? Can you see anyone else in the picture?”
“A man!”
“That’s right, there’s a man. Because this woman isn’t just any woman, what does she have on her head.”
“A crown!”
“Yes, a crown made of pearls. So what might she be?”
“A queen!”
“What’s more important than a Queen?”
“A princess!”
“No, more important?”
“A Queen!”
“No, I said more important than a Queen. No? She’s a Goddess.”
“Wahhhhhhh.” Says a boy, amazed.
“Not from a Christian religion, she’s a Goddess from ancient Greek times. Now what do you think she is the Goddess of?”
“Everything!”
“No, not everything.”
“She’s a Goddess!”
“Yes, what of?”
“Of Queens!”
“What’s she holding?”
“A bow!”
“Yes, so what might she be the Goddess of?”
Silence.
“She’s the Goddess of hunting. And is it light or dark in the painting?”
“LIGHT!”
“DARK!”
“DARK!”
“LIGHT!”
“LIGHT AND DARK!”
“Is it day or night?”
“DAY!”
“NIGHT!”
“DAY AND NIGHT!”
“It’s night. And so it’s dark, but can we see anything?”
“No!”
“Yes, we can because otherwise there wouldn’t be the picture would there? How can we see? Where is the light coming from?”
“The street lamps!”
“I don’t think there are any street lamps. We’re in a forest and I don’t think they had street lamps in this time. What helps us to see at night? What gives us light?”
“The sun!”
“At night.”
Silence.
“What gives us light at night? What is in the sky at night?”
“The sun!”
“No, something else. What lights the sky at night?”
Pause.
“The moon!”
“Well done, young man, how does the moon light the sky? It’s the reflection from the sun, isn’t it? And what colour is the light from the moon?”
“Yellow!”
“No, not yellow.”
“Green!”
“No, it’s not green is it. Look at the painting.”
“Yellow!”
“No, we said it’s not yellow.”
“Black!”
“No, not black. So the light from the moon is shining onto the water and we have a reflection, don’t we? What colour is the reflection?”
“Yellow!”
“Green!”
“Blue!”
“No. Look at the picture.”
“Green!”
“No, look at the picture.”
“Yellow!”
“No. look at the picture, what colour is the light on the water. Look at this piece here, what colour is this? Right here, what colour is this?”
“Red.”
“I’m going to wring your… no, I’m not going to do that but seriously, come on guys, what colour is this?”
One of their four teachers was angry by this point and said: “Look at the picture! What colour is that?! You know the colour.”
“White?”
“Yes, it’s white. Wow, thank you. It’s white, isn’t it? So the colour of the light from the moon is white and it’s lighting up this whole scene. So this lady is called Diana and she is the Goddess of the moon and of hunting. Normally she hunts animals but today what is she hunting?”
“A man!”
“That’s right, she’s hunting a man. And why do you think she is hunting a man? I’ll tell you. He’s a hunter and he’s got all hot and thirsty so he went to the pool to get a drink and then he saw Diana bathing naked in the pool and she saw him and a man should never see a Goddess naked, so she threw on her clothes, which is why one booby is coming out and shot him with her magic arrow and look what’s happening to him.”
The children look.
“What’s happening to him?”
“He’s dying.”
“No, he’s been turning into an animal, isn’t he? Look at his head, what’s he been turned into?”
“A dog.”
“That doesn’t look like a dog to me. What’s on his head?”
“Cockerel!”
“Cockerel?! No.”
“Cocoon!”
“Look at his head, what’s on his head?”
“Deer!”
“That’s right. And do you think he’s going to survive as a deer?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he has his dogs with him, doesn’t he? What do dogs to do deer? They eat them don’t they? So look at what his dogs are doing to him? His own dogs are attacking him. And because he’s a deer he can’t say anything. Isn’t that awful?! Now, do you think that’s fair?”
“Yes!” Most of them shout.
“Really? You think that’s a fair punishment for accidentally seeing a Goddess naked? Who thinks that’s a fair punishment, to be turned into a deer and eaten by your own dogs?”
Four boys put up their hands.
“Well, you guys are very tough, I don’t think it’s fair. Anyway, it was lovely seeing you all this morning… “
She then said goodbye to them and I admired the painting with a new childlike perspective. The painting is called The Death of Actaeon by Titian, is in the National Gallery and well worth going to see. As with this visit, my own personal way of going to a gallery is to go and look at one or two paintings, but really look at them and explore them, for colour, technique, perspective, story, observing how other people look at them, noticing what feelings it brings up and maybe even memories while enjoying a peaceful moment resting on the leather sofa.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-the-death-of-actaeon
By Harry
