Lot Essay
This appears to be an early copy, with variations, of the first state of one of Rubens's masterpieces, the Drunken Silenus at Munich, Alte Pinkaothek (sold by Philip Rubens, the master's nephew, to the duc de Richelieu; at Düsseldorf in c.1716, whence moved to Munich). That picture, which measures 205 x 211 cm. and includes more than ten figures, was enlarged by Rubens c.1625 from an original of c.1618, which showed only Silenus with a satyr and an older woman on the left and a moor on the right. A copy of the first phase, attributed to the Studio of Rubens, is in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel (140.5 x 120 cm.).