RICHARD WAXBERG / PAINTINGS / ACTAEON & DIANA SERIES / 2016-2026 / OIL ON CANVAS / 44" x 54" 

The Mythological Story of Actaeon & Diana: According to the ancient story, one day the youth Actaeon went on a hunt through a primeval forest accompanied by his dogs. Following a stream he accidentally entered the sacred grove of the Goddess Diana who was bathing naked attended by her nymphs. Diana saw the youth, was startled, and threw a magic glass orb at him. When the orb hit Actaeon, it transformed him into a stag. Actaeon's dogs turned on him and as he tried to run away, they tore at his flesh killing him.

In my vision of this story, when Diana sees the youth, she instantly falls in love with him and he falls in love with her. Diana is unwilling to change her edict that all must die who see her naked while she is bathing. As Actaeon is killed by his own dogs and begins to enter the transitional stages of death called the Bardos, Diana is compelled to follow him, drawn by the power of her love which she cannot resist.

Actaeon and Diana travel together through the various stages of the Bardos, entangled by love and
a mutual inexorable attraction for each other.

This series of paintings depicts Actaeon and Diana's relationship as bound forever by their mutual love
and shared mysterious beauty, the all-powerful Goddess and the vulnerable human youth.