Triumph of Bacchus

c. 1539

Georg Pencz

(German, c. 1500–1550)

Culture

Germany

Medium

engraving

Measurements

Sheet: 4.8 x 28.4 cm (1 7/8 x 11 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Henry R. Hatch 1922.151

Catalogue raisonné

Landau 80

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Georg Pencz is among a group of engravers known today as the "Little Masters" for the many small prints they created, such as this one, which often required the use of a magnifying glass.

Description

A triumph was a civic ceremony and procession from antiquity, when military commanders were celebrated upon their return to Rome with the spoils of war. The grandeur and magnificence of such events, revived during the Renaissance, makes the diminutive size of these whimsical images of Bacchus’s triumphs even more amusing. The orderly parade depicted by Georg Pencz contrasts with the chaotic scene taking place in Johann Theodor de Bry’s engraving. Such small prints were meant to be enjoyed up close, perhaps with a magnifying glass, a socially acceptable examination of humorous or erotic content performed by a cast of scantily clad mythological characters.