Artwork Page for Silenus Accompanied by a Satyr and a Faun

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Silenus Accompanied by a Satyr and a Faun

1630

Christoffel Jegher

(Flemish, 1596–1652/53)

after Peter Paul Rubens

(Flemish, 1577–1640)
Culture
Flanders
Medium
woodcut
Measurements
Sheet: 44.6 x 33.9 cm (17 9/16 x 13 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1925.150
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens made several images of Bacchus and his teacher, Silenus. Silenus’s incessant overindulgence in wine presented comic possibilities, as seen here, where he walks naked in a stupor with the support of two others. Some artists, including Rubens, were attracted to Silenus for his embodiment of the intuitive and sensual parts of human nature, qualities essential to creativity. Art historians have argued that Rubens’s images of Silenus are indirect self-portraits expressing the artist’s search for creative inspiration and spiritual insight while inhabiting a highly corruptible human body.
A vertically oriented woodcut in black ink on pale paper depicts three figures with light skin moving right. Centered, an older, fat, bearded man hunches forward. To our left, a muscular satyr with goat legs and pointed ears supports him. To our right, a muscular faun leans forward. Behind them, birds fly through a cloudy sky above low trees. Latin text at the bottom reads "CVM PRIVILEGIIS."

Silenus Accompanied by a Satyr and a Faun

1630

Christoffel Jegher, Peter Paul Rubens

(Flemish, 1596–1652/53), (Flemish, 1577–1640)
Flanders

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