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A nymph – a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a young woman – lies on a patch of grass in the foreground, blood streaming from wounds on her throat and hand. A satyr, half man and half goat, kneels next to her, mourning her death. A dog sits at her feet, balancing the stooping figure of the satyr and seemingly mourning as well. More dogs appear at the lakeside in the background. It has been suggested that this painting depicts an episode from the Metamorphoses, an influential poem by the ancient Roman writer Ovid. If this is the case, then the beautiful nymph would be Procris, who was accidentally killed by her husband Cephalus. A fifteenth-century adaptation of the Metamorphoses added the satyr, which is not mentioned by Ovid.
Title
A Satyr mourning over a Nymph
Date
about 1495
Medium
Oil on poplar
Measurements
H 65.4 x W 184.2 cm
Accession number
NG698
Acquisition method
Bought, 1862
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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A Young Man Dulwich Picture Gallery -
Design for a festive chariot with the Triumph of Venus Ashmolean Museum, Oxford -
The Forest Fire Ashmolean Museum, Oxford -
A Satyr mourning over a Nymph The National Gallery, London -
The Fight between the Lapiths and the Centaurs The National Gallery, London -
Magdalen Reading The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)