Possibly by Anthony van Dyck, 'Drunken Silenus supported by Satyrs', about 1620
About the work
Overview
This uproarious crowd of mythical characters is noisy and ill-behaved, but meant to make you smile. The old man who has lost his clothes in the revels is Silenus – in Roman myth, the teacher and mentor of Bacchus, the god of wine. In the seventeenth century, the Roman myths were popular as subjects for painting. Flemish artists in particular found Silenus a personification of everything ribald, exuberant and funny. He made an appealing subject, giving artists the chance to paint an old man, naked and drunk – comic but sometimes touched with pathos.
The picture came from Rubens’s studio in Antwerp and it seems to have been a joint effort by several young artists working there. But the superb rendering of Silenus’ bloated, happy face and the folds and bulges of his solid, glowing flesh strongly suggest that they were painted by the young Anthony van Dyck.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Drunken Silenus supported by Satyrs
- Artist
- Possibly by Anthony van Dyck
- Artist dates
- 1599 - 1641
- Date made
- about 1620
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 133.5 × 197 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1871
- Inventory number
- NG853
- Location
- Room 18
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 18th-century French Frame
Provenance
Probably coll. Lucas van Uffel († 1637), Venice, and perhaps sold with other pictures in his collection, Amsterdam, in 1637 or ca. 9 April, 1639. Perhaps coll. Arnold Horebeek, Antwerp, from whom bought, through the agency of the dealers Picart and Musson, by the Duc de Richelieu, 1676. Probably the coll. the Duc de Richelieu, Paris, ca. 1676. Perhaps coll. the Duc d’Orléans († 1723), Paris, who gave it away. Probably coll. Dutartre, Paris, 1780 or 1784; Dutartre (†) sale, Paris, 19 March, 1804 (16) bt. Maurice for 15,000 francs. Coll. Lucien Bonaparte, by 1812; Prince Lucien Buonaparte sale by private contract, Buchanan, 6 ff. February, 1815 (95) not sold; Lucien Buonaparte sale, Stanley, 14 May, 1816 (62) bt. Stanley for 950 gns. sold to ‘some gentlemen in Paris’. Coll. Chevalier Bonnemaison, Paris, by 1824; Chevalier Féréol Bonnemaison (†) sale, Paris, 2 ff. April, 1827 (72) for 21,000 francs. Sold by John Smith to the Rt. Hon. Robert Peel (later Sir Robert Peel, Bart.) for £1,100, 23 June, 1827; exh. B.I., 1831 (47); bought with the Peel Collection, 1871; exh. An Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures, The National Gallery, 1947 (no. 56).
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2013Divine BodiesLaing Art Gallery6 June 2013 - 29 September 2013
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2014Rubens and His LegacyCentre for Fine Arts (BOZAR)25 September 2014 - 4 January 2015Royal Academy of Arts24 January 2015 - 10 April 2015
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2021Rubens: Picturing AntiquityThe Getty Villa Malibu10 November 2021 - 24 January 2022
Bibliography
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1677R. de Piles, Conversations sur la connoissance de la peinture, et sur le jugement qu'on doit faire des tableaux: Où par occasion il est parlé de la vie de Rubens, & de quelques-uns de ses plus beaux ouvrages, Paris 1677
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1681R. de Piles, Dissertation sur les ouvrages des plus fameux peintres: Dediée à Monseigneur le Duc de Richelieu, Paris 1681
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1787L. Thiéry, Guide des amateur et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou description raisonnée de cette ville, de sa banlieue, & de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, vol. 1, Paris 1787
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1804Alexandre Paillet, Catalogue des tableaux, marbres, bronzes, vases précieux, porcelaines anciennes, meubles de Boulle, et autres articles curieux: Composant le cabinet de feu M. Dutartre, ancien trésorier des bâtimens, Paris, 19 March 1804
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1812Choix de gravures à l'eau forte: D'après les peintures originales et les marbres de la galerie de Lucien Bonaparte: Cent quarante deux gravures, London 1812
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1815Catalogue of the splendid collection of pictures belonging to Prince Lucien Buonaparte […], London 1815
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1824W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
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1827M. Henry, Catalogue de tableaux précieux des diverses écoles et autres objets de curiosité, tels qu'émaux de petitot, dessins, gravures, marbres antiques et modernes, bronzes, meubles de Boule, etc.: Formant le cabinet de feu M. le Cher Féréol Bonnemaison, Paris, 17-21 April 1827
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1829E.A. Réveil and J. Duchesne, Musée de peinture et de sculpture, ou, recueil des principaux tableaux, statues et bas-reliefs des collections publiques et particulières de l'Europe, vol. 2, Paris 1829
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1831Catalogue of pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and English masters, with which the Proprietors have favoured the Institution, June 1831, London 1831
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1837G.F. Waagen, Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris, vol. 1, Berlin 1837
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1838G.F. Waagen, Works of Art and Artists in England, trans. H. Lloyd, vol. 2, London 1838
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1842J. Smith, Supplement to the: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 9, London 1842
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1843A. Cunningham, The Life of Sir David Wilkie: With His Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art; and a Selection from His Correspondence, vol. 2, London 1843
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1844A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
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1890M. Rooses and J. Maes, L'œuvre de P. P. Rubens: Histoire et description de ses tableaux et dessins, vol. 3, Antwerp 1890
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1904W. Armstrong, The Peel Collection and the Dutch School of Painting, London 1904
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1905A. Rosenberg, P. P. Rubens: Des Meisters Gemälde in 551 Abbildungen, ed. R. Oldenbourg, Stuttgart 1905
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1928L. Burchard, 'Die neuerworbene Landschaft von Rubens im Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum', Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, XLIX/1, 1928, pp. 62-8
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1931G. Glück, Van Dyck, des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1931
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1944H.G. Evers, Rubens und sein Werk: Neue Forschungen: Mit 370 Abbildungen, Brussels 1944
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1947P. Hendy, An Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures of 1947: (1936-1947), London 1947
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1949J. Denucé, Na Peter Pauwel Rubens: Documenten uit den kunsthandel te Antwerpen in de XVII eeuw van Matthijs Musson, Antwerp 1949
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1963B. Teyssèdre, 'Une collection de Rubens au XVIIe siècle: Le cabinet du duc de Richelieu décrit par Roger de Piles (1676 - 1681)', Gazette des beaux-arts, LXII, November 1963, pp. 241-300
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1976H.B. Teilman, 'Head of a Man by Peter Paul Rubens', Carnegie Magazine, March 1976, pp. 108-17
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1977A.P. de Mirimonde, 'Rubens et la Musique', Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen, 1977, pp. 97-197
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1977D. Bodart, Rubens e l'incisione nelle collezioni del Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome 1977
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1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
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1988E. Larsen, The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren 1988
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1989M. Jaffé, Rubens: Catalogo completo, Milan 1989
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1989H. Robels, Frans Snyders, Stilleben- und Tiermaler, 1579-1657, Munich 1989
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1990S.J. Barnes, A.K. Wheelock and J. Held, Anthony Van Dyck, New York 1990-1991
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1990D. Bodart (ed.), Pietro Paolo Rubens (1577-1640), Rome 1990
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1991C.B. Bailey, Les amours des dieux: La peinture mythologique de Watteau á David, Paris 1991
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1992R. Stephan-Maaser, Mythos und Lebenswelt. Studien zum 'Trunkenen Silen' von Peter Paul Rubens, Münster 1992
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1994K. Renger, 'Die Anstückungen von Münchner "Silen" und "Schäferszenen"', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, LV, 1994, pp. 171-84
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1995S. Alpers, The Making of Rubens, New Haven 1995
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1995M. Gregori, 'La collezione dei dipinti antichi', in M. Natoli, Luciano Bonaparte: Le sue collezioni d'arte, le sue residenze a Roma, nel Lazio in Italia (1804–1840), Rome 1995, pp. 263-313
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1995R. Bartoli Contini, 'La Galleria Bonaparte. Catalogo', in M. Natoli, Luciano Bonaparte: Le sue collezioni d'arte, le sue residenze a Roma, nel Lazio, in Italia (1804-1840), Rome 1995, pp. 315-72
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1997B. Edelein-Badie, La collection de tableaux de Lucien Bonaparte, prince de Canino, Paris 1997
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1999H. Vlieghe and C. Brown, Van Dyck 1599-1641, Antwerp and London 1999
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1999L. Keith, 'The Rubens Studio and the "Drunken Silenus supported by Satyrs"', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XX, 1999, pp. 96-104
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2004H. Vey et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven 2004
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2004T. Döring et al., Peter Paul Rubens: Barocke Leidenschaften, Munich 2004
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2010R. Bartoli, 'Lucien Bonaparte collectionneur', in M.T. Caracciolo (ed.), Lucien Bonaparte: Un homme libre, 1775-1840, Milan 2010, pp. 241-53
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2012A. Vergara and F. Lammertse, The Young Van Dyck (exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid), Madrid 2012
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2012F. Lammertse and A. Vergara, 'A Portrait of Van Dyck as a Young Artist', in F. Lammertse and A. Vergara (eds), The Young Van Dyck, Madrid 2012, pp. 23-73
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2014N. von Hout and A. Galansino, Rubens and his Legacy, London 2014-15
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2014G. Gruber, 'Lust', in A. Galansino and N. van Hout, Rubens and His Legacy, London 2014, pp. 120-75
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2021A.T. Woollett, D. Gasparotto and J. Spier, Rubens: Picturing Antiquity (exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles), Los Angeles 2021
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2021A.T. Woollett, ‘Visualizing an Epic Past: Rubens, Antiquity, and the Art of Painting’, in A.T. Woollett, D. Gasparotto and J. Spier, Rubens: Picturing Antiquity (exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles), Los Angeles 2021, pp. 5-27
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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