RUBENS, Peter Paul
(b. 1577, Siegen, d. 1640, Antwerpen)

The Drunken Silenus

1616-17
Oil on wood, 212 x 214,5 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

In Greek mythology Silenus is a rural god, one of the retinue of Bacchus, a gay, fat old drunkard who was yet wise and had the gift of prophecy.

In Rubens' painting he is shown drunkenly tottering, his belly swollen with meat and drink, and supported by a disparate collection of dotards, drunkards, blacks, children and young women. The careless inebriation of this bacchanal is expressed by a thicker touch that conveys the unwieldy weight of the drinkers' gait.

The composition was originally conceived with half-length figures, but was later enlarged by Rubens himself. The painting hung in Rubens' house.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.