Pan and Syrinx (1720): Art, History and Details

Pan and Syrinx (1720) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean François de Troy (French, 1679–1752).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Subjects drawn from classical mythology posed a challenge for painters: they demanded skill in depicting the human body in complex poses, as well as knowledge of ancient texts and an ability to interpret them imaginatively. Jean François de Troy’s rich colors and voluptuous figure types were ideal for depicting the sorts of mythological subjects favored by his elite patrons, which generally focused on themes of love. In a myth recounted in the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the nymph Syrinx fled from the lecherous advances of the god Pan. Trapped at the edge of a river, she begged for a way to escape, and the gods transformed her into reeds. Pan later gathered these reeds to form the pan pipes, the musical instrument forever associated with him.

Object facts

• Title: Pan and Syrinx
• Date: 1720
• Creator attribution: Jean François de Troy (French, 1679–1752)
• Culture: France
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 123.5 x 159.5 x 12 cm (48 5/8 x 62 13/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 106 x 139 cm (41 3/4 x 54 3/4 in.)
• Collection: P - French 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1973.212

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Christie, Manson & Woods. Highly Important Pictures by Old Masters: The Properties of the Parish of All Hallows Berkyngechirche by the Tower ... and from Other Sources, Which Will Be Sold at Auction by Christie, Manson & Woods ... Friday, June 29, 1973. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1973.
• Galerie Charpentier. Collection Chaix d’Est-Ange, partie de cette collection appartenant à Monsier le Comte de X….Tableaux anciens…don’t la vente…aura lieu à Paris, Galerie Jean Charpentier…11 décembre 1934. Paris, 1934.
• Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, letter to Philipe-Gerard Chabert, Dec. 15, 1977, in CMA curatorial file.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.