Pan and Syrinx, 1720 (oil on canvas)

Subjects drawn from classical mythology remained the most prestigious category for artists in Paris in the 1700s, since they not only demanded skill in depicting the human body in complex poses, but also required knowledge of ancient texts and the artist’s ability to invent subjects rather than imitate nature. In this period, elite French patrons generally preferred ancient subjects treating the theme of love. In a myth best known from the Roman poet Ovid, the nymph Syrinx fled from the god Pan. Unable to escape at the edge of a river, she begged to be transformed into another form, and the gods changed her into reeds. Pan gathered some of these reeds together, forming the pan pipes, the musical instrument forever associated with him.