Pan Punished By The Nymphs Analysis

Jacob Jordaens’ painting, Pan Punished by the Nymphs (1640), the nymphs have surrounded Pan while Apollo looks on. Although the title, punished, the scene is fairly peaceful around Pan. There are a group of women in the center of the picture and more women on the cliff to the right. Apollo is standing, gesturing down towards the scene of Pan about to have his beard cut. There are two goats, framing the scene, a reference to the god. Jordaens painted birds in the sky, a nod to the swiftness of the scene. There are different types of trees in the piece which show Jordaens’ skill as a painter. In the background, he uses atmospheric perspective, created by Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greats. Another showing of his skill is the reflection on the pond with the goat and trees.

The diagonals of the rock, Apollo’s arm and the arm of the woman sitting, who’s facing away from the viewer, draw our eye to the moment of Pan getting his beard cut. There is also the brevity of the moment, that in only this scene will you see Pan’s beard being cut. The one woman’s face turned towards the viewer, near Apollo on the right side, draws us into the scene, makes us engaged with their action, however you might think of its morality. The colors that Jordaens decided to use, the reds and the oranges, are an interesting choice, as Pan is brown compared to the white skin of the other subjects within the piece. The three colors, red and orange and brown, complement each other. The rest of the colors within the piece are more cold; the whites, blues and greens. These tie in with the rest of the image, the muted tones of the trees and the