In classical mythology, Silenus was the guardian of forests. He was supposed to raise Bacchus when the latter was a child. Rubens depicts him in the customary manner: with goat ears and a scraggly beard, alluding to his condition as a wild being, and clothed only in buckskin. The mask on which he is leaning recalls his ties to the world of theater, as a Bacchic and festive deity. Rubens once again drew on ancient sculpture for this figure, whose movement recalls some of Praxiteles´ works, yet the closest model is an engraving by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617), from which he took the position of the hands. This work was made for the Torre de la Parada, a small royal palace near Madrid, and was often thought to be a portrait of the philosopher, Democritus.