Satyr

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The half man, half goat was one of the bucolic figures of the classical Roman imagination that was embraced by Renaissance artists. The Baroque carver of this pair (see pendant figure 24.80.83) emphasizes the Satyr's crude and lusty aspect. The popularity of the motif speaks to the understanding that these woodland creatures are more or less suppressed aspects of the human spirit.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art