The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Bacchanal with Silenus

1481

Andrea Mantegna

(Italian, 1431–1506)
Italy, 15th century
engraving
Sheet: 28.8 x 43.6 cm (11 5/16 x 17 3/16 in.)
Gift of Ralph King 1924.223
Catalogue raisonné: Hind 3
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

Did You Know?

Like most artists in Renaissance Italy, Mantegna was often inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art. In this print, the revelers are positioned in the foreground of a shallow picture plane, reminding savvy viewers of a Roman frieze.

Description

This print was probably conceived by Andrea Mantegna as the right side of Bacchanal with a Wine Vat, which shows Bacchus crowned. Here, the central figure is also crowned, but unlike the wine god, he appears saturated with drink. The scene may come from the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BCE). He described Bacchus’s teacher, Silenus, roused from a drunken sleep by two satyrs and a maenad and incited to sing so that his companions could dance. Silenus’s great wisdom was said to be generated by wine, but Renaissance artists more typically portrayed him as the embodiment of overindulgence.
  • ?–1924
    Ralph King [1855–1926], Cleveland Heights, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    January 31, 1924–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Prasse, Leona. "The Engraving of Andrea Mantegna." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43, no. 4 (April 1956): 59-62. Mentioned: p. 60 www.jstor.org
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    Italian and German Prints of the 15th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29, 1933-January 3, 1934).
  • {{cite web|title=Bacchanal with Silenus|url=false|author=Andrea Mantegna|year=1481|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.223