Youth Playing a Pipe for a Satyr

Youth Playing a Pipe for a Satyr

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto)

Details

Dimensions
16 x 21-1/16 in. (40.6 x 53.5 cm)
Department
Drawings and Prints
Holding institution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Fund, 1962

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • Related to Music Both · 99%

    The catalog lists musical instruments as a subject, and the image clearly shows a youth playing a pipe.

  • Human Figure Both · 99%

    The image contains numerous human figures, while the catalog identifies women and satyrs and the title identifies a youth.

  • Classical Mythology Interpretive · 88%

    The catalog identifies a satyr, and the central hybrid human-animal figure places the scene within the subject area of classical mythology, although no specific mythological episode is identified.

  • Figures in Nature Visual · 96%

    Figures occupy a wooded environment framed by trees, foliage, rocks, and open atmospheric passages.

Visual Qualities

  • Earth Tones Visual · 95%

    The image is dominated by ochres, browns, muted reddish tones, and subdued blue-green passages.

  • Dense Composition Visual · 84%

    A substantial cluster of overlapping figures and landscape forms spans most of the sheet, creating a visually crowded central and lower field despite open areas in the background.

Medium and Techniques

  • Drawing Metadata · 99%

    The work is classified as a drawing and is described as brush with colored oil paint.

  • Work on Paper Metadata · 99%

    The catalog specifies paper as the support and notes that it is partly saturated with oil.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 98%

    The catalog explicitly identifies colored oil paint as part of the medium.

  • Broad, rapid brush marks define the figures, garments, trees, and ground, with many contours remaining open or abbreviated.

Time Periods

Geographic Regions

  • Italian Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog identifies Castiglione as Italian, from Genoa.

Source & rights

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto). Youth Playing a Pipe for a Satyr. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.