Pan Reclining

possibly c. 1610

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Artist, Flemish, 1577 - 1640

Drawn with red and black chalk on cream-colored paper, a satyr has a man’s muscular upper body and the legs of a goat as he lies sprawled on his back across the width of this horizontal sheet. He lies with his head to our right and hooves to our left. His right arm, farther from us, is flung over his head and with that hand, he touches the sheep’s skin on which he reclines. The sheep’s head rests near the satyr’s shoulder. The satyr’s eyes are blank under lowered, deeply furrowed brows. His nose is bumped over the bridge and pointed at the end. His full lips are open to reveal his tongue and lower teeth over a cleft chin. A mustache or goatee is loosely drawn, and hollows in his cheeks suggest high cheekbones. A wine skin, like an oversized hot water bottle, is tucked under the hollow of his lower back. His left arm, closer to us, lies along the side of his body, and he holds a pan flute in that brawny hand. He has the furry haunches of a goat, and his legs are splayed so his hooves reach into the upper and lower left corners of the sheet. A grapevine with a few clusters of fruit curls behind his lower limbs and meanders across the background. Gray washes and sketchy lines are layered behind the vine. A tiny uppercase “R” appears to be penned near the lower right corner. Lower in that corner, a round stamp has a crown over an uppercase “W” above the letters “JCR.”

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    red and black chalk with red wash and gouache

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 30.9 x 49.3 cm (12 3/16 x 19 7/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1978.17.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Jonathan Richardson, Sr. (1665 - 1745) (L.2184). Benjamin West (1738 - 1820) (L.419). Sir Charles Greville (1763 - 1832) (L. 549). Earl of Warwick (1818 - 1893) (L. 2600). John Charles Robinson (1824 - 1913) (L. 1433); (sale, Christie's, London, 12 - 14 May 1902, no. 352); Charles A. de Burlet, in 1902; Ludwig Burchard, Berlin, 1925; Wolfgang Burchard (sale, Sotheby's, London, 9 April 1970, no. 63). Alain Delon, France; (Galerie Claude Aubry, Paris, 1974). (P. & D. Colnaghi, London); purchased 1978 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1927

  • Ausstellung Rubens, Museum des Siegerlandes, Siegen, 1927, cat. no. 19.

1933

  • Rubens Tentoonstelling, Gallery J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam, 1933, cat. no. 101.

1938

  • Dessins de Pierre-Paul Rubens, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1938-1939, cat. no. 7.

1939

  • Teekeningen van Petrus Paulus Rubens, Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 1939, cat. no. 7, plate VII.

1953

  • Drawings by Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953, cat. no. 272.

1954

  • Flemish Art, 1300 - 1700, Royal Academy, London, 1953 - 1954, cat. no. 521.

1956

  • Tekeningen van Peter Paul Rubens, Rubenshuis, Antwerp, 1956, cat. no. 121.

1974

  • Dessins des Écoles du Nord, Galerie Claude Aubry, Paris, 1974, cat. no. 88.

1976

  • Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Drawings: 16th - 19th Century, P. & D. Colnaghi and Company, London, cat. no. 42.

1977

  • Rubens: Drawings and Sketches, British Museum, London, 1977, cat. no. 38a.

1978

  • Master Drawings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art and Promised Gifts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, p. 65.

1988

  • Creative Copies, The Drawing Center, New York, 1988, cat. no. 19.

Bibliography

1928

  • Glück, G., and F. M. Haberditzl. Die Handzeichnungen von Peter Paul Rubens. Berlin, 1928: no. 25.

1930

  • Bethe, H. "Eine Pseudoantike des Cinquecento und ihr Echo in der Kunst des XVII. und XVIII. Jahrhunderts." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte LXIV (1930 - 1931): 181-184, fig. 182.

1954

  • Jaffé, Michael. "Rubens and the Influence of Italy." The Listener 51 (1954): 135-137.

1956

  • Jaffé, Michael. "Rubens' Drawings in Antwerp." The Burlington Magazine 98 (1956): 135-136.

1959

  • Held, Julius. Rubens, Selected Drawings. London, 1959: 50, 52.

1963

  • Burchard, Ludwig, and Roger-A. d'Hulst. Rubens Drawings. Brussels, 1963: no. 161.

1964

  • Haverkamp-Begemann, Egbert, et al. Drawings from the Clark Art Institute. New Haven, 1964: 23.

1965

  • Jaffé, Michael. "Rubens as Draughtsman." The Burlington Magazine 107 (1963): no. 161.

1966

  • Müller-Hofstede, J. "Review of L. Burchard and R.-A. d'Hulst, Rubens Drawings." Master Drawings IV (1966): no. 161.

1968

  • Stechow, Wolfgang. Rubens and the Classical Tradition. Cambridge, MA, 1968: 40.

1978

  • Logan, Ann Marie. "Rubens Exhibitions 1977-78." Master Drawings XVI (1978): p.449.

  • Logan, Anne-Marie, and Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann. "Dessins de Rubens." Revue de l'Art XLII (1978): 449, no. 65.

1979

  • Möseneder, K. Montorsoli: Die Brunnen. Mittenwald, 1979: 138-139, fig. 51.

1986

  • Held, Julius S. Rubens: Selected Drawings. New York, 1986: no. 40, fig. 29.

1987

  • Chong, Alan. "The Drawings of Cornelis van Poelenburch." Master Drawings XXV (1987): 60, note 58.

  • Logan, Anne-Marie. "Review of Held, Rubens, Selected Drawings." Master Drawings XXV (1987): 69, no. 40.

1994

  • van der Meulen, Marjon. Rubens: Copies after the Antique. London, 1994: 8.

1998

  • Desloge, Nora W. and Laura Lewis Meyer. "Italian Paintings and Sculpture." The Saint Louis Art Museum Bulletin (1988): 39, fig. 13.

2010

  • Sale cat., Camard & Associés, Paris, 9 June 2010: 8, under lot 13.

Wikidata ID

Q64632551

You may be interested in

Loading Results