Triumph of Bacchus

1580–1623

after Giulio Romano

(Italian, 1499-1546)

Culture

Flanders

Medium

engraving

Measurements

Sheet: 10.3 x 27.7 cm (4 1/16 x 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1935.8

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Even the most rollicking early modern parties probably did not include fauns and satyrs, but bell-wearing acrobats, like the one tumbling in the foreground, were often hired by wealthy hosts.

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.