Satyr with Drinking Bowl, Inkstand, and Candlestick

These two satyrs, serving as purveyors of candlesticks and ink pots, belong to a large group of similar but never identical figures, the best of which, including these, have been attributed to Riccio. Others of varying style and quality are more clearly derivative and probably were made by Paduan imitators, possibly even by a posthumous continuation of Riccio's shop. The ink bowl of the second, slightly smaller, of the Frick satyrs bears the coat of arms of a Paduan family, the Capodivacca.

The composition of the first satyr seems more complex, subtle, and satisfying than that of the second. Its elegant pattern of limbs linked by the sinuous cornucopia—the curves of which are repeated in those of the handles, bowl, and curlicue horns—is highly sophisticated. The modeling of this satyr's face is more elastic and mobile, his hair springier. Yet even he lacks the tragic appeal of the tiny satyr head on the handle of Riccio's Lamp (also in the Frick). One suspects that, like others of the group, this example too may simply reflect an original bronze by the master, wherein the pose that hints at supplication and the tormented expression would have been more finely focused. According to medieval lore, a satyr once accosted St. Anthony Abbot, declaring, "I, too, am a mortal," and begged him to pray for his soul. Some such plaint may account for the unhappy mien of Riccio's satyrs.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.