Diana and a Nymph Surprised by a Satyr

Anthony van Dyck was barely into his twenties here, just out of Rubens's workshop and trying to prove he was more than the master's brilliant assistant. You can see Rubens in the warm flesh and the full bodies, but the elegance is already van Dyck's own. The goddess Diana and a nymph have been caught unawares by a satyr creeping in at the edge, a hunting party suddenly become the hunted. The dogs and the game were likely painted by Frans Snyders, an Antwerp specialist in animals and still life whom van Dyck often worked beside. Soon after, van Dyck left for Italy and the career in society portraits that made his name. The picture entered the Spanish royal collection and hangs today in the Prado.