Drunken Silenus

Drunken Silenus is a mythological painting by Anthony van Dyck, executed in oil on canvas in the Baroque style. Its subject, Silenus, belongs in Greek mythology to the retinue of Bacchus, the god of wine, and is usually portrayed as his companion and tutor. Such subjects allowed painters of the period to combine an interest in classical myth with the depiction of a body overcome by drink, a theme that is at once comic and humane. The work is now held in Dresden, in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. The sources do not fully agree on its date: the catalogue record gives 1619, while the reference text gives 1620, so both years should be treated as an approximate range. At its fairly modest size, the picture suggests a study or a cabinet piece rather than a large public commission, though the available information does not allow us to be certain. What makes it worth looking at is the way it handles a classical story with a earthly, direct tone, a quality associated with Van Dyck, who blended the Flemish tradition with the expressive language of the Baroque. As with many works of the period, its interest lies both in the choice of subject and in the handling of paint, and in how the artist gives presence to a mythical figure who, in the guise of a drunkard, embodies the vitality and excess of the Bacchic world.

Painter

Anthony van Dyck

Date

1619

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

42 × 36 cm

Museum

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden

Movement

Baroque

Genre

mythological painting

Depicts

Silenus

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