Pan and Syrinx

This commotion of dark splotches of wash and scribbled lines is an exquisite study of light and shadow. Fleeing the lusty satyr Pan, the nymph Syrinx was trapped at a river’s edge and begged her father, the river-god Ladon, and her two sisters (shown in the foreground) to rescue her. Just as Pan grasped her, she was transformed into reeds, leaving him with only the sound of the wind blowing through the reeds, which inspired him to make his pipes. Here, Syrinx’s transformation has begun, described in fluid pen strokes that elongate her hands and rise around her head.