''Drunken Silenus'' is a painting by

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to ...

, produced in 1626 in Naples and now in the

Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...

in Naples. The central figure is

Silenus In Greek mythology, Silenus (; grc, Σειληνός, Seilēnós, ) was a companion and tutor to the wine Greek god, god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue (''thiasos''), and sometimes considerably older, ...

, lying on a cloth and offering a wine cup to the figure behind him. To the right is Pan, crowning Silenus with vines and surrounded by a shell (the symbol announcing his death) and a turtle (symbol of laziness). At the bottom right is a snake symbolising wisdom.

History

Its first recorded owner was the Flemish merchant

Gaspar Roomer Gaspar Roomer ( Antwerp, between 1596 and 1606 - Naples, 3 April 1674) was a prominent Flemish merchant, banker, art patron and art collector who was active in Naples in the 17th century. Biography Born in Antwerp, he lived for at least four dec ...

, but he did not commission the work, since he first acquired it several years after the artist's death. At the end of the 18th century it entered the collection of the

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family, Spanish Bourbons that ruled Southern Italy and Sicily for more than a century in the 18th and 19th centuries. It descends from the Capetian dynasty in legitimate ma ...

as part of their possessions in Naples, bringing it to the Capodimonte.

References

External links

*http://assistentimuseali.xoom.it/atm2003/silenoebbro.htm 1626 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Museo di Capodimonte Paintings by Jusepe de Ribera Paintings depicting Greek myths Food and drink paintings Pan (god) in art Seashells in art Snakes in art Turtles in art Silenus {{17C-painting-stub