Favourite Paintings: 'Two Satyrs' by Rubens

'Two Satyrs' by Peter Paul Rubens is in the Alte Pinakotek in Munich and I saw it when I visited the gallery to see the wonderful 'Florence' exhibition in January 2019. After seeing the exhibition I went for a cuppa and a cake in the cafe and thought I may as well see the gallery's collection. I expected it to be like any provincial museum anywhere but I was quickly disabused of that misconception. It has an astonishing collection with loads of great paintings including 'Two Satyrs' by Rubens.

The painting may be called 'Two Satyrs' but there's really only one satyr here and he's the one looking right at you. There's something about that look that says he's already had his fun and now he wants a glass of wine, but then he sees you and you're the focus of his attention. And you know what? He'll have his way with you. He will. That's what satyrs do.

I have no idea why Rubens did this painting, why it was commissioned, how he found the model, what it's meant to represent, and I don't care. It's about nature and about sex, about passion and lust, about giving in to those primitive urges that make us who we are, about stripping back the trappings of civilisation and presenting the primitive us. It's you and me.