Feast of Pan
Medium
Etching on ivory paper
Dimensions
Image/sheet; cut within plate: 22.7 × 18.4 cm (8 15/16 × 7 1/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40785
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This etching dates from the artist’s return to Rome in 1647 and depicts a mythological subject. A satyr rests under a herm of Pan, engaging in the bacchanal indulgences of music and leisure. Around the time this print was made, Castiglione invented the printmaking technique of monotype. Castiglione's earliest known monotype, The Creation of Adam, is in the Art Institute’s collection.
About the Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione · 1609–1664
Versatile and eclectic artist open to foreign influence which was unusual for an Italian artist of his time. Some of his best-known works are somewhat fantastical. He was court painter at Mantua from 1648. Comment on works: Religious; Landscapes; Animals; Mythology.