A Satyr Mourning over a Nymph

A young woman lies dead on the grass, a wound at her throat, while a satyr kneels and touches her with heartbreaking gentleness and her dog keeps watch; along the shore behind, more dogs and wading birds stand in the clear light. The scene is usually tied to Ovid's tale of Procris, killed by accident with her husband's spear and mourned by the wild creatures who loved her. Piero di Cosimo, drawn all his life to myth and to animals, fills a long bench-panel with tender melancholy and exact natural detail. Few Renaissance pictures grieve so quietly, or so strangely.