Satyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the Scherzi

Satyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the Scherzi

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tiepolo who was famed for his luminous frescoes populated by Olympian gods and allegorical figures, gave free reign to his fantasy in his print series the Scherzi, a number of which depict the nymphs and satyrs who were followers of Bacchus (the Greek Dionysos), god of wine. From the Renaissance on, satyrs are often indistinguishable from Pan—the goat-legged figure in ancient art—yet the seated figure here, with his horns and bristly crown, pipes in hand, could be intended as the woodland god.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Satyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the ScherziSatyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the ScherziSatyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the ScherziSatyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the ScherziSatyr Family (Pan and his Family), from the Scherzi

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.