It depicts the fable of Actaeon, a Greek mythological hero brought up by Chiron, and who became a great hunter. Diana turned him into a stag: according to one legend, for having boasted that he surpassed the goddess in archery, and according to another — the one shown here — for having stood too long admiring the goddess's naked form as she bathed. He was then torn to shreds by his own dogs who didn't recognize him as a stag. The cartouche quotes Actaeon'e_orme04.asps cry to his dogs: "Acteon ego sum: dominum cognoscite vestrum" (I am Actaeon: recognize your master).

 Below, under three coats of arms, is given the date of the work: 1512. The painting was restored, when it was at the very edge of recoverability, by the Soprintendenza dell'Umbria in 1995.