03 — ARTWORK
Orpheus with Animals in a Landscape
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 113 x 167 cm
- TYPE
- Landscape
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 1300 × 875 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Orpheus with Animals in a Landscape c. 1640 Oil on canvasA woven cloth used as a support for painting. The best-quality canvas is made of linen; other materials used are cotton, hemp, and jute. It is now so familiar a material that the word 'canvas' has become almost a synonym for an oil painting, but it was not until around 1500 that it began to rival the wooden panel (which was more expensive and took longer to prepare) as the standard support for movable paintings (the transition came later in Northern Europe than in Italy). Canvas is not suitable for painting on until it has been coated with a ground, which isolates the fabric from the paint; otherwise it will absorb too much paint, only very rough effects will be obtainable, and parts of the fabric may be rotted by the pigments. It must also be made taut on a stretcher or by some other means., 113 x 167 cm Private collection
The subject of this painting - Orpheus playing on his violin in the midst of animals - was portrayed frequently in the 17th century, probably because it offered the artist an opportunity to paint all kinds of animals. Close to Orpheus are the house pets and farm animals: dog and cat, horse and goat, peacock, chicken and a monkey. Somewhat farther away from him are the wild and exotic animals: dromedary, elephant, ostrich, parrot and two jaguars. Some of these beasts seem to have been painted from life.
You can view some <A onclick="return OpenOther('/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=&comment=orpheus+AND+animal&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&caption=Depictions+of+Orpheus+taming+the+animals')" HREF="/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=&comment=orpheus+AND+animal&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&caption=Depictions+of+Orpheus+taming+the+animals">depictions</A> of Orpheus taming the animals. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 7 minutes):<BR><A HREF="#" onClick="w=window.open ('/music1/18_cent/gluck_orfeo.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350');w.opener=this;w.focus();return true"><B>Cristoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo, Act I, Orpheus' aria in G Major</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE>
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r7e1f4199f54b33,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Orpheus with Animals in a Landscape by CUYP, Aelbert},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cuyp-aelbert-rd69beb87e1753c/orpheus-with-animals-in-a-landscape-r7e1f4199f54b33},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
