SIGNED GREGSON, PARIS, CIRCA 1790

The enamel scene portrays the story of the Greek prince and hunter Actaeon who one day comes upon the Goddess of the Forest, Artemis bathing in a stream at the sacred spot of Gargaohie. Actaeon stands and watches the naked virgin and when discovered Artemis becomes enraged and changes Actaeon in to a stag. This punishment is so that Actaeon can tell no others he has seen her naked, "now you are free to tell that you have seen me all unrobed, if you can tell" (Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.192). The hunter has been turned in to the hunted. Actaeon is chased by his dogs and finally succombs to them and is killed. The image of Actaeon and Artemis can be represented in two ways, one with the Goddess's main attributes, the bow and arrow, or in the stream as she flings water in Actaeon's face.