Statue of a Young Satyr Wearing a Theater Mask of Silenos

A young satyr thrusts his hand through the mouth of a theater mask of Silenos (an old satyr) in a gesture that is both mischievous and menacing. This work may have been part of a statuary group that included another figure whom the satyr is attempting to frighten either in jest or in earnest. Although this subject is frequently found in relief sculpture, particularly on sarcophagi (coffins) and gemstones, this is the only known extant version in a work sculpted in the round. The important 17th-century sculptor Alessandro Algardi restored this statue when it was in the collection of the wealthy Ludovisi family in Rome.