Bacchic Scene

Poussin’s scenes, created in his early years in Rome, require of the viewer an extensive acquaintance with ancient mythology. At Cupid’s command, the goat-legged shepherd-god Pan has knelt and taken Venus, the goddess of love, on his shoulders. A little winged putto is giving a hand, and the group is accompanied by a sturdy faun bearing a basket of fruit on his shoulder. The lively ensemble has been set in an Arcadian landscape.