Diana and her nymphs spied on by satyrs

Dated to 1620 and held at the Hessen Kassel Heritage collection, Diana and Her Nymphs Spied on by Satyrs represents a major mythological composition combining Snyders's animal expertise with the kind of erotic classical narrative that was standard in Flemish court painting. The subject — Diana's bathing party observed by lustful satyrs — had been treated by Rubens in some of his most celebrated compositions, and Snyders's 1620 version was likely made in dialogue with this tradition. The satyrs spying on the naked nymphs was a narrative of transgression and vulnerability that gave painters license for female nude figures in a mythological context. In 1620 Snyders was working closely with Rubens and his circle, and a collaboration on this canvas — with Snyders providing the hounds, deer, and animals characteristic of Diana's world, while a figure specialist painted the goddesses, nymphs, and satyrs — is highly probable. The Hessen Kassel collection is one of the most important Flemish Baroque collections in German public ownership.

The composition divides between the animate human and divine figures — nymphs bathing, Diana present, satyrs peering from behind foliage — and Snyders's characteristic contribution: hounds, deer, and the accoutrements of the hunt arranged around and between the figures. The figure painting and animal painting maintain consistent lighting across the canvas, suggesting careful coordination between the contributing artists if this was a collaboration.