Pan And Syrinx

Dateabout 1600

Mediumblack ink applied with pen, and brown ink washes on cream laid paper

Dimensions17.5 x 17.9 cm (6 7/8 x 7 1/16 in.)

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1956.24

DescriptionDUFL/1 Inscribed in pen and brown ink, u.r., "Sprang(er)."
Label TextGerrit Pietersz., the brother of the Amsterdam musician Jan Pietersz. Sweelinck, is thought to have made this lively sketch. A pupil of Cornelis van Haarlem, he worked at the epicenter of high-style Dutch Mannerism. This design adapts a print from Goltzius’s Metamorphoses series. The satyr Pan fell in love with Syrinx, a river nymph devoted to the goddess Artemis. He chased her to the water’s edge where she called out for divine aid. As Pan reached to embrace her, she changed into a tussock of reeds. Hearing the wind blowing in the reeds, he made the first pan pipes.ProvenanceH.M. Calmann, London, England

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