Detail from The Drunken Silenus by Richard van Orley II, after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, late 17th- early 18th century. Dayton C. Miller Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.
after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, history, genre, and landscape painter, and engraver, 1577-1640
This etching is a copy of a painting by Rubens in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich which is entitled The Drunken Silenus and dates to about 1618. Silenus was the teacher and friend of Bacchus, the god of wine. Silenus is depicted as an old, nude, drunken man grasping a grape vine. He is supported by a satyr and a black man. Other drunken revelers -- men and women, old and young -- surround Silenus. A female satyr suckles her children in the left foreground and a boy and two goats are on the right. At the far left a tiger lunges toward Silenus while a satyr plays what appears to be a transverse flute. A large tree is at the upper right.
About the Artists
Richard van Orley II, painter, draughtsman and etcher, 1663-1732
Richard van Orley II, a Flemish painter, draughtsman and etcher, was born in Brussels in 1663 and died in the same city in 1732. According to Bénézit, Richard van Orley was the student of his father, Pieter van Orley (1638-after 1708), called Siret, who was a landscapist and miniaturist, and of his uncle, Hieronymous III van Orley, a portrait painter, draughtsman, and engraver, who flourished in Brussels about 1652. In an article in Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online, it is stated that Richard van Orley created a series of paintings on the Life of Saint Norbert for the abbey of Tongerlo, only one of which survives. It is believed that he lived for several years in Italy as he also did a series of drawings of Rome. Richard van Orley also made tapestry cartoons in collaboration with his brother, Jan van Orley (1665-1735). He designed and etched his own prints, his finest being a series of etchings, Ruins of Brussels, based on drawings by Augustin Coppens (born about 1668, working in Brussels around 1695).[1]
Peter Paul Rubens, history, genre and landscape painter, and engraver, 1577-1640
Peter Paul Rubens was a well-known Flemish painter who worked in the late 16th and first half of the 17th century. There are many sources available in print and online for information on Rubens.[2]
Notes
- The information on Richard van Orley comes from Bénézit and an article by Christiaan Schuckman, "Richard van Orley," in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online (subscription only). [back to article]
- See Bénézit and Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online for his biography and further references. [back to article]