The Satyr Family
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
image: 11.5 × 7 cm · sheet: 12.8 × 8.5 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
In honor of William Mathewson Milliken
Accession Number
1959.224
Tags
male
About this artwork
Dürer’s interest in mythological imagery stemmed from his familiarity with the Italian Renaissance. In this ambiguous engraving, Dürer depicted a satyr-a hybrid woodland creature typically associated with lust-in the role of father and family man. Instead of carousing in the forest, he plays music to his newborn child. Dürer’s play on the mother and child theme and the satyr’s unconventional fatherly behavior draws attention to a primal and simplified way of life. In contrast though, the group r...