Depending on the ancient source consulted, Silenus is either the son of Pan or Mercury. Custodian, educator, and follower of Bacchus, he is normally represented in art as a jolly heavy-set figure who rides on a donkey, wears a crown of flowers or grape leaves, and is perpetually inebriated. Jusepe de Ribera presented the Drunken Silenus (1626; Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte) as a comical reclining nude holding up a glass of wine for one of his satyr companions to drink—a spoof on the sensuous female nudes from the Venetian School. Silenus is also featured in Annibale Carracci's Triumph of Bacchus, the central scene on the Farnese ceiling (c. 1597-1600; Palazzo Farnese, Rome), riding his donkey in the bacchic procession. In the Glorification of the Reign of Pope Urban VIII (1633-1639; Palazzo Barberini, Rome), he is included among the satyrs to denote the pope's rejection of lust and intemperance.
Historical dictionary of Renaissance art. Lilian H. Zirpolo. 2008.