Drunken Silenus Riding on an Ass
17th century
Medium
Black chalk, framing lines in red chalk
Dimensions
3 5/8 x 7 15/16 in. (9.20 x 20.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1961
Accession Number
61.161.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the spirited drawing *Drunken Silenus Riding an Ass*, French artist Jacques Sarazin captures a lively mythological scene from the 17th century.enus, the jovial foster father of the wine god Dionysus in Greek, is depicted in a state of merry inebriation, precariously perched atop a donkey amid a swirl of human figures and animals. This playful subject, evoking themes of revelry and excess, reflects the Baroque era's fascination with dynamic movement, emotion, and classical antiquity, Sarazin explored as a sculptor and draftsman working in the courtly circles of Louis XIII. Executed in black...