Pan and Syrinx

Details

Jean-François de Troy (Paris 1679-1752 Rome)
Pan and Syrinx
oil on canvas
51½ x 45 in. (130.8 x 114.3 cm.)

Sale room notice

Please note that Christophe Leribault has not seen the present paintings and does not endorse the attribution to Jean-François de Troy.

We are grateful to Professor Domique Brême for having pointed out that the paintings are by François Marot (Paris 1666-1719). Dominique Brême will publish the present series of paintings in an article on the artist.

Lot Essay

Pan, the lustful god of the woods and fields, pursues the Arcadian nymph Syrinx to the banks of the river Landon, which blocks her escape. In order to avoid his clutches, she prayed to be transformed into the reeds that Pan finds himself unexpectedly embracing (Metamorphoses I: 689-713). The subject was a favorite of De Troy, and he painted it in the early 1720s in smaller variant versions in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (no. P.81) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (no. P.84).

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