5 After a model by
BENVENUTO CELLINI
Italian (Florence, also active
at Fontainebleau), 1500-1571
Satyr
Cast after a model of circa 1542
Bronze
56.8 cm (22^3 /s in.)
85.SB.69
According to ancient Greek mythology, satyrs were spirits of the woods and mountains,
identifiable by their goatlike features including hairy legs and hooves, tails, bearded
faces, and horns. In the Renaissance they were often associated with lust and other
primal passions. In his unique conception of a satyr, Cellini tempered the traditional
bestiality of its physique—giving the creature a fully human body and retaining only
its small horns and goatish head—but emphasized its psychological aggressiveness.
Cellini's Satyr, sculpted in more than half-relief, stands in exaggerated contrapposto
and turns its head sharply to its left, gazing fiercely—with a furrowed brow, gnarled
lips, and open-mouthed scowl—toward an unknown intruder.
The Museum's bronze Satyr was cast from a wax study for Cellini's project to
remodel the entrance of the French royal palace at Fontainebleau. Called the Porte
Doree, or "Golden Door," the plan called for a pair of satyrs to flank the doorway and
to serve as vertical supporting elements, holding up the cornice. Above there was to
be a semicircular relief depicting a nude female nymph, surrounded by animals of the
forest that served as emblems of Francois I. The project was never completed, and the
wax model for the Satyr may have remained in Cellini's French studio after the artist
returned to his native Florence. PAFEUROPEAN SCULPTURE 27