3-035-493 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mythological Scene, about 1524. The male figure on the right of the composition is the Greek pastoral god Pan, leading some scholars to refer to this work as the Allegory of Pan. Pan was a satyr, who in Renaissance allegories personifies lust. He owed his amorous reputation to his seduction of the nymphs by playing music on his syrinx, which he holds here in his left hand. The sleeping nude in the foreground may be the nymph Echo, who spurned Pan for Narcissus. The old woman at the center of the group is perhaps Echo's protector Gea (Earth), who sits above her and shields her from harm. The woman next to her, wearing armor over a green gown and enveloped by a billowing red cape, has yet to be identified. A group of erotes (winged gods of love) hover alongside the citrus trees.