Striding Pan

The satyr stands upright and majestically strides forward. His powerfully muscled torso closely resembles Riccio’s heroic nudes, like the beggar in the Saint Martin relief in this gallery. He is most probably Pan, the satyr deity who reigns over the material world. Designed to stand on a scholar’s desk, he carried the attributes of a flaming conch-shell lamp and an ink-filled vase, perhaps symbolizing Pan’s dominion over the elements. Such pairings of figure and function are rare in Riccio’s work, but the extraordinary balance of the topheavy figure on just two small hooves is typical of Riccio’s technical mastery.