Young Satyr Running with an Owl (1770s): Art, History and Details

Young Satyr Running with an Owl (1770s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Clodion (French, 1738–1814).

The work and its context

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

These works by French sculptor Claude Michel, known as Clodion (1738–1814), shows a pair of young satyrs. Clodion was fond of depicting characters from classical antiquity in his work, and the subject of child or baby satyrs in Bacchanalian celebrations appear often in the work of Rococo artists. The female satyr wraps a plump arm around a nest filled with baby birds, while her male counterpart holds an owl. Balancing on one foot, the two flee the scene of their theft.

Object facts

• Title: Young Satyr Running with an Owl
• Date: 1770s
• Creator attribution: Clodion (French, 1738–1814)
• Culture: France
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: terracotta
• Dimensions: Overall: 32 x 15.2 x 16.4 cm (12 5/8 x 6 x 6 7/16 in.); with base: 45.1 cm (17 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1944.129.2

Collection credit

The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection : Bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.
• Clodion, and Anne L. Poulet. Clodion, 1738-1814: Musée du Louvre, Paris, 17 mars-29 juin 1992. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1992.

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.