Pan en Syrinx c. 1719 - 1769

Curator: This is Francesco Fontebasso's drawing, "Pan en Syrinx," dating from around 1719 to 1769. It’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Wow, even though it's rendered in earth tones and just pen and ink, it’s intensely dramatic. A swirling vortex of bodies, with this...creature lunging, figures flailing, a definite sense of pursuit and desperation hangs in the air. It makes my pulse quicken. Curator: Absolutely. We're seeing a critical moment from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Pan, the god of the wild, is chasing Syrinx, a nymph devoted to Diana, known for her chastity. It reflects the power dynamics of myth where female agency is challenged. Editor: That adds such a layer of complexity. Look at Syrinx. She’s right in the center but looks so powerless, her gesture frozen and ineffectual. The artist even obscures her features! It all resonates so sadly. The monstrous Pan seems almost… unnecessary in his direct aggression. Like the setting and surrounding chaos are already taking her apart. Curator: I agree. The landscape itself is actively participating in her fate. The rapid strokes create an almost claustrophobic feeling. This speaks volumes about societal pressures and the limited space afforded to women, both historically and, dare I say, even contemporarily. Fontebasso captures not just a pursuit but the suffocation of feminine desire by masculine power. Editor: I'm so taken by this tension between frantic motion and a very real stillness within her face, how her fate is pretty much determined. Like an opera with no aria. Thank you for pointing that out because what at first appears to be classical dynamism is such an uncomfortably passive tragedy at the same time. Curator: It’s that tension that really captures Fontebasso's strength, illustrating these narratives, the politics of gendered space in ways that are simultaneously aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating. Editor: This seemingly small drawing really holds a universe of ideas inside it. I know that it is something that I will reflect upon. Thank you.