Pan Reclining before a Large Vase
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 11.5 × 21.4 cm (4 9/16 × 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
41616
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The Baroque Italian etcher and innovator par excellence, Castiglione employed his signature flourish in this oblong view of revelers regaining their strength after a bacchanal. The god Pan lies entangled with empty wine vessels; lightly stroking his panpipes as if to play, he gazes at an enormous ancient funerary vessel on a raised plinth.
About the Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione · 1609–1664
Versatile and eclectic artist open to foreign influence which was unusual for an Italian artist of his time. Some of his best-known works are somewhat fantastical. He was court painter at Mantua from 1648. Comment on works: Religious; Landscapes; Animals; Mythology.