Artwork Page for Bacchanal

Details / Information for Bacchanal

Bacchanal

mid-1600s

circle of Pietro da Cortona

(Italian, 1596–1669)
Culture
Italy, 17th century
Medium
pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over black chalk, heightened with white gouache; incised, framing lines in brown ink over traces of black chalk
Support
Light brown laid paper, laid down on cream(3) laid paper; embossed gold paper strips mounted to perimeter
Measurements
Sheet: 26.3 x 43.5 cm (10 3/8 x 17 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Norweb Collection 1954.688
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Goats were commonly associated with sinful behavior, making them a common element in Bacchic scenes.

Description

Here, a bacchanalia is in full swing with its required cast of characters: Bacchus, Roman god of wine, at right; Silenus, atop the wine barrel, always ready for another glass; and numerous bacchants consisting of maenads, satyrs, musicians, children, and a goat, all within an Italian landscape. This drawing may have been a design for a fresco or painting. Depictions of bacchanalia were often meant for dining spaces, where the elite of society could playfully mirror the revelries portrayed in their own enjoyment of food and wine.
A horizontally oriented ink and wash drawing on tan paper depicts numerous nude figures with rounded bodies in a celebration. Moving from the left, one figure pours liquid from a jug. In the center, a rotund man sits atop a large barrel. To the right, figures dance, one raising a chalice. In the foreground, a figure sits with their back toward us. White highlights define the forms against dense trees and clouds.

Bacchanal

mid-1600s

Pietro da Cortona

(Italian, 1596–1669)
Italy, 17th century

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