The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 26, 2025

Triumph of Bacchus

c. 1539

Georg Pencz

(German, c. 1500–1550)
Germany
engraving
Sheet: 4.8 x 28.4 cm (1 7/8 x 11 3/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Henry R. Hatch 1922.151
Catalogue raisonné: Landau 80
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

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.
  • ?–1922
    Mrs. Henry R. Hatch, Cleveland Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    May 25, 1922–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Parsse, Leona. "Engravings by Georg Pencz in the Museum Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 23, no. 4 (April 1936): 50-53. Mentioned: p. 52-53 www.jstor.org
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    16th Century German Engravings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1938-January 22, 1939).
    Exhibition of Prints by the Little Masters: Prints form the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-April 24, 1938).
  • {{cite web|title=Triumph of Bacchus|url=false|author=Georg Pencz|year=c. 1539|access-date=26 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1922.151