Venus Riding a Satyr

This painting, which is quoted in an inventory of the collections of Emperor Rudolf II, must have been produced between 1602 and 1608, when Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn is mentioned as a painter at the court of Prague.

In Greek mythology, satyrs personified the spirits of untamed life that haunted forests and hills. Their half human, half bestial appearance is characterised by a human body with ram’s feet and horns. They were known for their loose morals and frequently associated with nymphs whom they pursued eagerly. At the Renaissance, they are often depicted as a family, as if to tame the wildness that they incarnate. This tendency is clearly expressed here, where an adult and a child satyr carry Venus and Cupid, the latter recognisable by his bow and arrows and his quiver. However, the goddess of love and her son do not just tame, they totally dominate the satyrs which serve them as mounts. This fairly rare subject possibly illustrates a verse from Virgil’s tenth Bucolic: Omnia vincit Amor; et nos cedamus Amori (Love conquers all; and let us yield ourselves to love).

This strongly rhythmic composition, where Venus’ superb, pale-coloured flesh contrasts and interweaves with the satyr’s rough, muscular body, is typical of the at once erotic and intellectual climate that prevailed at the court of Prague. Between the figures we see a hare, a symbol of carnal love and lasciviousness. The artist takes pleasure in precisely rendering the different textures of the furs, the wings, the flowers, the hair. He also considerably enlarges the field of vision by creating a deep vista in the thick and mysterious forest.

After devoting himself to small-sized religious pictures and painting the human figures in a number of architectural tableaux by Hans and Paul Vredeman de Vries, it would seem that Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn tried his hand at large-sized paintings of mythological subjects, almost certainly under the influence of the major painters at the court of Prague, Bartholomeus Spranger, Hans von Aachen and Joseph Heintz. His female figures become more robust, the compositions simpler and landscapes appear. Decorative details, in particular jewellery, are less in evidence, whilst his brushwork is reduced to the bare minimum.