There aren’t many places on earth where the satyr stands at the core of identity, but Mazara del Vallo, a little town in Sicily, worships one. Mazara del Vallo is a quaint fishing town in Sicily’s Western corner known for its gorgeous coastline and abundant waters. In 1998, however, something extraordinary would happen that would…
Category: Art History
Hours of the Day by Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun (24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was the most important and influential designer during the reign of the French king, Louis XIV. His work in the Baroque style permeated design and decoration in almost every medium; for nearly thirty years he personally designed or supervised the production of most of the paintings, sculptures, and decorative…
Nymph and Satyr by Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky
Konstantin Makovsky was born in Moscow on June 20, 1839. His father was the Russian art figure and amateur painter, Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky. His mother was a composer, and she hoped her son would one day follow in her footsteps. His younger brothers Vladimir and Nikolay and his sister Alexandra also went on to become painters. In 1851 Makovsky entered the Moscow…
Notable Fauns at the Capitoline
I was at the Capitoline Museum in Rome last November. The Capitoline has been on my bucket list for a while now. Despite being in Rome four times in recent years, I never stopped in. This last visit, I devoted a full day to my journey through antiquity. I’ve posted many of my vacation photos…
Venus and Satyr with Two Cupids
Venus and Satyr with Two Cupids is a painting by Annibale Carracci. The work is also known as La Baccante. Given the explicit sensuality of the painting, due to the nudity of the goddess, whose buttocks are exposed, a clear sexual allusion was seen in the work, further emphasized by the contrast between the opulent and rosy forms of…
The Maenads and Satyrs of Jules Scalbert
Maenads were originally nymphs, and later human Priestesses who carried on the traditions of their Foremothers in dance, song, feasting, free sexual expression, and ritual. Jules Scalbert was a student of Isidore Pils and Henri Lehmann, both masters of 19th-century historic genre painting. Like his teachers, he was drawn to mythology, religion, and history, using…
Exploring the Myth of Jupiter and Antiope (Part III)
Antiope by Michael Field (Pseud. for Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper) NOONTIDE’S whiteness of full sun Illumes her sleep ; Its heat is on her limbs and one White arm with sweep Of languor falls around her head : She cuddles on the lap of earth ; While almost dead Asleep, forgetful of his mirth, A…
Exploring the Myth of Jupiter and Antiope (Part II)
Jupiter’s seduction of Antiope is a frequent theme in western painting and has been treated by Titian, Van Dyck, Watteau, and David among others. They are based on the story of the seduction of Antiope by the god Zeus in Greek mythology, later imported into Roman mythology and told of the god Jupiter. According to this…
Exploring the Myth of Jupiter and Antiope (Part I)
The story of Jupiter and Antiope is often used in art. Antiope was a beautiful girl, whom Jupiter, in the form of a satyr, wooed and won. She is usually represented as sleeping after her exertions in the Maenad dances, when approached by the Olympian king. The two most famous pictures dealing with the legend…
Frisky Satyr 