Venus and a Satyr

Ignaz Elhafen

Cleveland Museum of Art

Venus and a Satyr by Ignaz Elhafen. A relief sculpture made of white marble or ivory. The relief is rectangular with a curved front. The scene depicts a woman with long hair, wearing a flowing cloth wrapped around her body sitting on a man's left leg. The woman faces the right. The man has short hair, sits on the left, is shirtless, and wears a cloth wrapped around his lower body. The man looks down. A small winged figure, a cherub or putto, sits on the man's right shoulder. A small figure and a dog are at the bottom left. Two more figures are behind the woman on the right, one sitting in a tree. Leaves and foliage are throughout the scene. The background is black, transitioning to gray at the bottom.