The Satyr and the Peasant,

um 1620/21

Material / Technology / Carrier

Leinwand, auf Eichenholz aufgezogen

Dimensions of the object

174 x 203,5 cm

Displayed

AP OG Saal IX

Department

Flemish Painting

Genre

Painting

Inventory number

425

Acquisition

1806 aus der Galerie Düsseldorf

Stock

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München

Citation

Jacob Jordaens, Der Satyr beim Bauern, um 1620/21, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/bwx0jyqGm8 (Last updated on 28.08.2023)

The satyr’s powerful facial expression and gesturing capture the intense agitation and the moment of surprise that lie at the heart of the scene. The creature with the legs of a goat reacts with surprise and horror at the peasant who cools his gruel by breathing on it, after he—as the satyr had noticed before—had warmed his hands out in the fields in the same way. He is just about to flee from the peasant’s family, having been warned of the deceitfulness of man—as told in Aesop’s fables—and that one cannot rely on his friendship.