Satyr

Desiderio da Firenze|Severo Calzetta da Ravenna

ca. 1530 · Copper alloy with a reddish brown patina; the base and shell with a dark brown patina. · Robert Lehman Collection

Crisply cast with a carefully chased and hammered surface, the kneeling satyr peers intently with slightly parted lips at the candle socket held aloft in his right hand. His fig leaf is a nineteenth-century modification to the ensemble. Likewise, the circular base and snail shell inkwell are nineteenth-century copies of a popular model first produced by the workshop of Severo da Ravenna in the sixteenth century. In particular, the circular base is of the same design as that of one of the satyress and infant satyr groups on the central table in this gallery. Probably for this reason, these two works were displayed as a pair in the Lehman townhouse.

Artist

Desiderio da Firenze|Severo Calzetta da Ravenna

Date

ca. 1530

Medium

Copper alloy with a reddish brown patina; the base and shell with a dark brown patina.

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975