![Piero di Cosimo - A Satyr mourning over a Nymph [c.1495]](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/14737492134_0e290f866e_o.jpg)
A nymph lies on the grass, displaying wounds to her hand, wrist and throat. A satyr kneels, apparently mourning over her, while a dog sits at her feet. In the background other creatures, including a pelican, are depicted. The subject may be linked to the death of Procris. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Procris is described as being killed in error by her husband, Cephalus, to whom she had given a magical dog and a spear. Ovid does not mention a satyr, however, though one appears in a play of this subject by Niccolò da Correggio of 1486.
On the reverse of the panel is a drawing which may be the frame of a pilaster. The painting probably served as a spalliera (a backboard for a bench or chest), or as part of the panelling in a Florentine palace. Underdrawing is visible, notably on the bodies of the figures. The artist's fingerprints appear extensively in the sky.
[National Gallery, London - Oil on poplar, 65.4 x 184.2 cm]