Silenus Who?

Exploring a character from mythology- Brian Keeler

Yes, Silenus is not a household name and this mythic character, a God of sorts from ancient mythology is not really on the tip of our tongues or on the radar of most.  Still he has an outsize influence and a corpulent physique to go with his status in art of the ages.

Above- A painting by the author reinterpreting the myth of Silenus. This oil on linen titled, "The Merry Company."

He has been a source of interest to me for quite a while as I have included his visage in a couple of major oil paintings- figurative ensembles in the tradition of those allegories of yore.  And I have often marveled at many depictions of Silenus from such masters as the Renaissance Italian painter Giovanni Bellini, 1430-1516.  Bellini's large canvas, The Feast of Gods is one of the treasures of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.   Silenus has been found in all kinds of art, from ceramics, etchings and sculpture since antiquity and it is not difficult to find him in any museum.

My current interest was piqued by a book review in the New York Review of Books by Jed Perl in the April 23, 2026 issue.  Perl reviews a new trilogy of books by Morgan Meis with the one in question here titled; The Drunkenness of Silenus.  This book is a small volume packed with interesting insights and new approaches to the Silunus through a rather obscure painting by Peter Paul Rubens.

This canvas by Rubens is a tour-de-force of consumate figure paintings conceived in simplicity and complexity (at once).  The beauty of flesh is the thing- even rotund bodies. In fact the rounder the better it seems. It features a swirl of characters circling the periphery of the square canvas around the abundant form of a stumbling Silenus.

As Rubens is known as a virtuoso of painting the fleshy bodies of female bacchantes or noble actors of state ( like Marie De Medici) or exalted Gods, by contrast, this image offers up a seemingly quite ignoble character.  

Above- Rubens' Painting, "The Drunkenss of Silenus."

There is a side of levity and even virtue to this otherwise cautionary tale.  That being the wisdom of Silenus or so-called wisdom- as he offered advice to Midas as to the nature of life. That being a rather grim admonition,   "It is better not to have been born, but if you are alive the next best thing is to die quickly."  Hardly an inspiring or profound take on human existence.

Meis believes that Rubens was not interested in presenting an allegory in the painting- an image that implied a higher moral lesson or alluded to other concepts.  Rubens, according to Meis, is recreating what he has seen in Bellini and many others for purely pictorial and dramatic effect.  And yes this canvas is a theatrical vignette packed with characters.  We can relish the richness of the conception and appreciate the painterly skill.

The message and mood of all these images of Sileus instead seems to be a light hearted romp with a casual lesson in over-indulgence in the fruit of the vine.  Silenus is often posed on a donkey with satyrs helping him stay upright.  Silenus, for all his drunkenness,  is regarded with some reverence as he is the tutor to Dionysus the god of wine.  He also is presented as somewhat stoic and wise in resisting Midas or not caving into his coercion. 

Compassion also comes into play here through Rubens. As we appreciate how the artist feels the character of the man.  And the way his body is painted, even in its overflowing abundance and beefy proportions.  Silenus is not demeaned or presented as a caricature.  Could there be dignity in the rendering?  Yes, and I think we can think of Rembrandt's profound humanity in his own self-portraits as we do here with Rubens.

Above- A painting by the author. "Silenus in Mirth". This oil in a private collection.

I love the way the flesh is portrayed in deep, but not overstated chiaroscuro  and wonderfully modeled torso, limbs and head.  Silenus is supposed to be an old man, yet here he is bald but with a dark full beard and hair. His chunky legs are wonderfully understated in value and modeling contrast to the highlighted abdomen.  His face is skillfully underplayed with a deep russet color.  Not the high contrast of Caravaggio's chiaroscuro but more subtle  and softer.  The glowing deep reds in the shadows and reflected lights are captivating too.  We even get a small peek of the distant landscape though the legs of the Satyr.  The eye level and the horizong of this distant landscape is low so as to suggest us being the audience and the figures are on stage above us.

Here's a quote from Meis' book that I appreciated-

There are a number of paintings of children that hold a particular fascination. But none of these paintings have the luminosity that Rubens's painting of the satyr and the woman achieves. To make it seem as if light is actually coming from inside the painting out into the room. So maybe luminous is the right word. It is as if the painting itself is. shining.

Well said!   And indeed even looking at the work in reproductions we can see this mythological passage evoked brilliantly.  The  periphery of characters are skillfully rendered and subordinate roll- The goats, (we barely notice) in the lower right seem to be just the underpainting at first then we see them emerge. There's a tiger on the left and a robust woman breast feeding two children in the lower left.  Old age is included here too; in a hooded woman who has a delightful expression. Her face is all in a warm ochre-like shadow yet we see her smile. She is next to old Satyr also enjoying the drama.  A nymph gazes out directly at us as if in a Broadway play to engage us the viewer as participants.

The enactment in these paintings evokes the related play by the ancient Greek author, Euripides. His work The Bacchae is also a cautionary tale and shows aspects of delusion in the characters.  We saw a live performance of this at a theater in Rome several years ago, near the Pasquinades statue ,not far from Piazza Navona.  Linda did not like it. The violence of the women is extreme, as in their delusion and hysteria they tear apart Pentheus who they mistake for a mountain lion. The upshot for us is the frenzied women driven to excess by Dionysus is also part of the influence and cautionary aspect of Silenus. 

Meis' book brings in all kinds of aspects to Rubens and Silenus that we'd not encounter with a cursive look.  For example he has a chapter on Frederich Nietzsche's book, The Birth of Tragedy .  Balancing the Apollinian order and  rational nature with opposing forces of instinct and chaos might be the denouement and  take away here.   Meis's book has throughout a long-running investigation into Rubens's father, Jan Rubens, who lived a dissolute life ending sadly. So the moral of the tale is that great art can come from less than ideal beginnings and  then triumph.  

All in all- reflecting and considering a painting in greater depth is the take away here. Mies' book provides all sorts of enrichinig new ways to consider this work.