Possibly by Marten Rijckaert, 'Landscape with Satyrs', about 1626
About the work
Overview
This tiny jewel of a picture was made at a time when landscape painting was beginning to be appreciated as an important genre of its own. While no longer a poor relation of pictures of great historical events or of stories from the Bible or Greek myths and legend, it was common for landscape painters of Rijckaert’s era to include figures from these myths to give their paintings gravitas.
The artist chooses satyrs as his mythical creatures, demigods of the woods and forests. They're half goat and half man, with hooves and shaggy legs, horns and hairy ears. Satyrs were followers of Dionysus, the god of wine, and were fertility symbols, notorious for drunkenness, lust, chasing nymphs and loud partying. The artist shows these rumbustious characters in a quieter moment, staggering home from their revels. He keeps them no bigger than a bee’s wing, so as to give the landscape full scope.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Landscape with Satyrs
- Artist
- Possibly by Marten Rijckaert
- Artist dates
- 1587 - 1631
- Date made
- about 1626
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 10.3 × 20.4 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Richard W. Cooper Bequest, 1892
- Inventory number
- NG1353
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.