Silenus1.0036_RiberaEtching

Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652, “Drunken Silenus,” 1626, oil on canvas, Naples, Galleria di Capodimonte, no. 298.

In a rather satiric treatment of the bacchanalia theme, the drunken Silenus embodies the ill effects of abandoned reason. Surrounded here by the doting satyrs, drunken putti, and the laughing ass that Silenus likely rode in on, the unsightly nude physique of the Silenus roundly contrasts with those inviting young revelers, especially alluring maenads, that many bacchanalia paintings so prominently feature. A slovenly tortise (lower right) exemplifies the Silenus' foolery; and a serpent, a representation of wisdom (lower left) destroys a message that the drunken old fellow might judiciously heed.

As he did with many other paintings of his own production, Ribera recreated his senstively realistic images in the reproducible medium of etching/engraving.