A muscular man stands with one hand on a walking stick and the other braced on the underside of a stone block above his head in this full-length, vertical drawing. The man’s body faces our left in profile, but he turns his face to look up and off to the right. Short, curling horns nestle among his curly hair, and he has a curly goatee. He has a furry brow, like a goat, a flattened nose, and drooping eyes. His lips are parted, and his top eye teeth and bottom middle teeth show. His right hand, to our left, reaches up to the stone overhead. He holds his other arm across his body to brace that hand on a waist-high staff. He stands with his weight on his left foot, closer to us, and his other ankle crosses in front so the balls of that foot rest on the ground. A rectangular frame is drawn with brown ink, and the corners are shaded sage green. More drawn frames suggest stepped molding within a frosty green band. Cursive text in the lower right corner reads, “alla porta di fontana Bellio di bronzo p piu di dua volte il vivo b 7 erano dua variati.”
Read the visual description

A muscular man stands with one hand on a walking stick and the other braced on the underside of a stone block above his head in this full-length, vertical drawing. The man’s body faces our left in profile, but he turns his face to look up and off to the right. Short, curling horns nestle among his curly hair, and he has a curly goatee. He has a furry brow, like a goat, a flattened nose, and drooping eyes. His lips are parted, and his top eye teeth and bottom middle teeth show. His right hand, to our left, reaches up to the stone overhead. He holds his other arm across his body to brace that hand on a waist-high staff. He stands with his weight on his left foot, closer to us, and his other ankle crosses in front so the balls of that foot rest on the ground. A rectangular frame is drawn with brown ink, and the corners are shaded sage green. More drawn frames suggest stepped molding within a frosty green band. Cursive text in the lower right corner reads, “alla porta di fontana Bellio di bronzo p piu di dua volte il vivo b 7 erano dua variati.”

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Satyr

Benvenuto Cellini

Date
1544/1545
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk on laid paper; laid down, with framing line in brown ink
Dimensions
overall: 41.6 x 20.3 cm (16 3/8 x 8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1991.190.2
Credit line
Woodner Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund
Time span
1501 to 1550
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • Florentine
  • detail and ornament
  • architecture
  • male
  • figure
  • classical
  • mythology
  • Satyr
  • Renaissance
Provenance

John Barnard [d. 1784] (Lugt 1419), London; Samuel Woodburn (1786-1853); Sir Thomas Lawrence [1769-1830] (Lugt 2445), London; Samuel Woodburn. Hans M. Calmann [1899-1982], London; (William H. Schab Gallery, New York); purchased by Ian Woodner, New York, 1 September 1959; by inheritance to his daughters, Andrea and Dian Woodner, New York, 1990; gift to NGA, 1991.

Inscription

lower right in brown ink: alla porta di fontana / Bellio di bronzo p[er] piu / di dua volte il vivo b[raccie] 7 / erano dua variati.

NGA object ID 73890. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.