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Silvio and Dorinda was a pair of lovers from the pastoral play Il Pastor Fido, The Faithful Shepherd, by the Italian poet Guarini (1538-1612). Dorinda, disguised as a shepherd and wearing a wolf's skin, was accidentally slain by Silvio when he was out hunting. The subject is found in northern Baroque painting and shows Dorinda lying in the arms of the old servant Linco. Silvio kneels beside her, offering an arrow to Linco, at the same time baring his breast, since he has no further wish to live.
The work of the Flemish painter is characterized by a sentimental and theatrical presentation, but this is at least as much due to the master's artistic nature as to the literary genre to which the depicted subject belonged.
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