Art Institute of Chicago

Sheep by a Statue of Pan, plate five from Paysages Dédiés à M. Warelet

Salomon Gessner

Date

1764

Medium

Etching on cream laid paper

Culture

Switzerland

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This charming etching from a series of mythological landscapes by the German Romantic-era printmaker Gessner suggests the artist was familiar with Claude Gillot’s Pan etching on view nearby (see 1969.280). This print depicts a goat fondly raising its horned head toward a herm with a bust of Pan. While the flock of sheep seem uninterested in the moss-covered column, this antiquarian-enthusiast beast is drawn to the bust as if aware of the god’s oath to protect all cloven-hoofed creatures. The Roman marble Head of Pan seen nearby is similar to the type of bust that the goat is appraising in the picture.

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