CIRCLE OF ROMBOUT VERHULST (1624-1698), LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

The pointed ears and horns indicate that the subject here is a faun, and the presence of the grapevine in his hair tells us he is Pan, an attendant of Bacchus, god of wine. He is likely to have orignally been a full length figure, carved to adorn the garden of a wealthy patron. The facial type is reminiscent of sculptors working in Flanders and the Netherlands at the end of the 17th century. The present head closely resembles a stone garden figure of Prudence in the Rijksmuseum, attributed to Rombout Verhulst who is considered to be one of the foremost carvers in marble and stone in 17th century Holland (see J. Leeuwenberg and W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum - catalogus, Amsterdam, 1973, no. 317, pp. 239-240).