Diana ontdekt de zwangerschap van Callisto. NL-HlmNHA 1477 53011269

Diana, identifiable by the crescent moon on her forehead, sits on the left while her nymphs forcibly undress Callisto to reveal her hidden pregnancy. The composition features the muscular, elongated figures and complex groupings typical of the Haarlem Mannerist style. Hunting dogs, quivers, and bows are scattered across the foreground, framing the central drama against a dense wooded landscape.

This scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses served the Haarlem Mannerists as an allegory for the exposure of hidden truth and the unforgiving nature of divine purity. Within the Neoplatonic framework of the late 16th century, Callisto’s plight represented the soul's descent into material lust and the subsequent loss of its spiritual status.