Nymphs and Satyrs

This 1712 Nymphs and Satyrs at the Louvre depicts the erotic mythological encounter between woodland deities that was a staple of Venetian decorative painting with roots in Titian's bacchanal series. The satyrs' pursuit of nymphs — desire confronting modesty in a woodland setting — was a traditional subject that gave decorative painters both narrative interest and the opportunity for the sensuous nude female figure that Venetian painting had explored since the sixteenth century. Ricci's version, painted during the height of his international career, brings his characteristic warm palette and fluid motion to this traditional Venetian subject.

The mythological figures are rendered with luminous flesh tones and flowing draperies against a verdant landscape, Ricci's fluid brushwork creating an atmosphere of sensual pleasure characteristic of his decorative mythology.