Misfortunes of Silenus by Piero di Cosimo

This oil-on-panel painting shows Silenus, the companion and old tutor of Dionysus, caught up in a chain of mishaps brought on by wine. He arrives riding his donkey, but the animal's fall at the centre of the scene injures his eyes. On the left, satyrs and maenads tend to him, preparing an ointment, and the episode ends with the gift of prophecy, a detail the reference texts link to Ovid's account. On the right, the stout god of drunkenness lies on the ground unable to rise, while several satyrs and maenads try to lift him by any means: pulling his arm, pushing from behind, or even levering him up with a plank. This mix of futile effort and clumsiness gives the scene a playful, comic tone. The work is paired with another scene from the same series, in which a gnarled dead tree anchors the composition. Its condition is uneven, with visible losses and overpaint, something worth keeping in mind when looking at it.

Painter

Piero di Cosimo

Date

1500

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

80 × 129 cm

Museum

Fogg Museum, Cambridge

Genre

mythological painting

Depicts

Greek mythology, Dionysus, Silenus

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