Reclining Pan in the St. Louis Art Museum
"Reclining Pan in the St. Louis Art Museum"
Reclining Pan (St. Louis Art Museum, 138:1947) also known as Drunken Satyr, a marble sculpture modeled by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli in early 16th century, is portraying Pan, the god of the woods, fields, and flocks in the reclining position. The sculpture was owned by the powerful Barberini Family in Rome, then purchase by St. Louis Art Museum in1947.1 Reclining Pan at the St. Louis Art Museum under discussion presents a commanding image of the satyr/god Pan, measuring approximately 2 feet tall and 4.5 feet long. Pan appears to have fallen asleep in a drunken stupor since he lies upon a wineskin amid four bunches of grapes that adorn his rocky bed. His left arm encircles his head, a gesture evocative of sleep, and his muscular right arm falls to the side, still clutching the syrinx or reed pipes he fashioned in frustration at his failure to win the nymph syrinx. He opens his mouth in a wide grimace, allowing his tongue to protrude slightly and thus animating his expression to connote the beginning stages of his transition from slumber to wakefulness. The nebris he wears around his neck has been knotted on the his chest, its colored hooves resembling less an animal torso than some sort of decorative fashion accessory. His furry legs splay open, revealing a rather odd and unexpected bit of prudishness since his penis, an important attribute of Pan who is renowned for his sexual exploits, has been hidden by draped fabric that also separates his torso form the underlying stone platform. The aforementioned grape clusters, the woody truck of a grapevine, and single grape leaf embellish his stone perch while a salamander slithers in the crevices that have been cut into the marble.2 Pan is the son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. He is not completely human in form, but part man and part goat. He has the ears, horns and legs of a goat. His lovers included Echo, Selene, Cyparissus, Daphnis, and Olympus. Pan is a god of
Reclining Pan (St. Louis Art Museum, 138:1947) also known as Drunken Satyr, a marble sculpture modeled by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli in early 16th century, is portraying Pan, the god of the woods, fields, and flocks in the reclining position. The sculpture was owned by the powerful Barberini Family in Rome, then purchase by St. Louis Art Museum in1947.1 Reclining Pan at the St. Louis Art Museum under discussion presents a commanding image of the satyr/god Pan, measuring approximately 2 feet tall and 4.5 feet long. Pan appears to have fallen asleep in a drunken stupor since he lies upon a wineskin amid four bunches of grapes that adorn his rocky bed. His left arm encircles his head, a gesture evocative of sleep, and his muscular right arm falls to the side, still clutching the syrinx or reed pipes he fashioned in frustration at his failure to win the nymph syrinx. He opens his mouth in a wide grimace, allowing his tongue to protrude slightly and thus animating his expression to connote the beginning stages of his transition from slumber to wakefulness. The nebris he wears around his neck has been knotted on the his chest, its colored hooves resembling less an animal torso than some sort of decorative fashion accessory. His furry legs splay open, revealing a rather odd and unexpected bit of prudishness since his penis, an important attribute of Pan who is renowned for his sexual exploits, has been hidden by draped fabric that also separates his torso form the underlying stone platform. The aforementioned grape clusters, the woody truck of a grapevine, and single grape leaf embellish his stone perch while a salamander slithers in the crevices that have been cut into the marble.2 Pan is the son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. He is not completely human in form, but part man and part goat. He has the ears, horns and legs of a goat. His lovers included Echo, Selene, Cyparissus, Daphnis, and Olympus. Pan is a god of
Bibliography: "The Kuan Yin Royal Ease Posture: An Image of Our Creatrix" http://www.mother-god.com/kuan-yin-royal-ease.html "Guanyin (110:1947)" St. Louis Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection. St. Louis 2004: 55 Yu, Chung-fang. "Kuan-yin, The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara" New York: Columbia University Press, 2001, 31-40 Bailey, C. "Embracing the Icon: The Feminist Potential of the Trans Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin" [Part of a special issue: Transgender Studies and Feminism: Theory, Politics, and Gendered Realities]. Hypatia v. 24 no. 3 (Summer 2009) p. 178-96 McDermott, James P. "Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 119, (1999): 195 Williams, Charles Alfred Speed. "Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs". (Tuttle Publishing, 2006) 234-235