Corisca and the Satyr


Corisca and the Satyr was painted in the 1630s by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It currently hangs in a private collection.

Story

The story is drawn from the play Il Pastor Fido, by the sixteenth-century Italian poet and writer Giovanni Battista Guarini. The sixth scene of act two sees the nymph Corisca accept gifts of clothing and sandals from a satyr. Aroused by Corsica's acceptance of his gifts, the satyr then proceeds to attempt to seduce her. He grabs her by the hair, but it turns out to be a false wig, and Corisca can escape, leaving the satyr clutching the hairpiece.

Attribution

The painting underwent cleaning in the 1990s, when the signature of Gentileschi was revealed on the tree trunk behind the satyr's back. Before this, the painting was attributed to another female artist, Annella de Rosa, and Massimo Stanzione. There is now consensus the painting is by Artemisia, executed during her time in Naples.

Interpretation

After the painting was rediscovered in 1989, early interpretation linked the painting's content to Gentileschi's own personal history, connecting Corisca fleeing the satyr to Gentileschi's own rape by Agostino Tassi. More recent interpretations have weakened this link: firstly by showing that contemporary commentary on the story of Coriscaand the satyr showed Corisca not as a woman wronged but as a reviled character, "viewed as a manipulative, lustful foil to two other characters in Il Pastor Fido."