Oreads Removing a Thorn from a Satyr's Foot

Around 1590, Jan Muller, one of the most sought-after Mannerist printmakers, began making engravings after designs by Bartholomeus Spranger, the court painter to the Emperor Rudolf II of Prague. Rudolf, who reigned from 1576 to 1612, surrounded himself with artists, writers, scientists and mathematicians, who prized novelty and invention above all else.



For example, the wounded shepherd with a thorn in his foot is a familiar subject in classical poetry and art, but Spranger seemingly invented a new variation on the theme. As illustrated in Muller’s engraving of the composition, Spranger replaces the shepherd with a handsome faun, who looks almost human apart from his pointy ears and the horns curling out of his hair. He is attended by three other mythological creatures, a young satyr, who supports his wounded leg, and two female figures known as oreads. Commentators have mistaken them for female satyrs, but classical sources suggest they are actually mountain nymphs, devotees of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. The imagery of the engraving is clearly erotic, but in giving the oread who kneels to remove the thorn over large spectacles, the artist adds an intentionally comic element to the work.