In this painting, created in 1671, a clearly fearful Satyr is held and mocked by two putti before the seated Venus who, with her extended arm, prepares to pronounce on his fate. A container of wine spills on to the ground in a metaphor of flowing blood.
The work is by Filippo Lauro (1623 - 94), an Italian painter and draughtsman of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome.
He was best known for his many, elegant and highly wrought 'cabinet' pictures of landscape and mythological subjects done on panel or copper, which are widely scattered in collections in Europe and North America. In addition, he painted large-scale decorative frescoes for some of the most eminent patrons in Rome.
