The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Bacchanal with Silenus

late 1400s–early 1500s

Giovanni Antonio da Brescia

(Italian)

after Andrea Mantegna

(Italian, 1431–1506)
Italy, 15th century
engraving
Sheet: 30.1 x 44.3 cm (11 7/8 x 17 7/16 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1924.515
Catalogue raisonné: Hind V(II).13.3a ; P.v. 83.42
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

Description

Perhaps unhappy with the way his engraved plates had worn down from use, Andrea Mantegna commissioned Giovanni Antonio da Brescia to reengrave several of his compositions. Comparing Da Brescia’s impression to Mantegna’s shows that the copperplate was less worn when the later print was made and the inks more expertly mixed to adhere to the incised lines, resulting in an overall stronger impression with greater contrast. The impact is a work that has a strong affinity with the relief-carved Roman sarcophagi (stone coffins) that inspired Mantegna.
  • ?–1924
    FitzRoy Carrington [1869–1954], New York, NY, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    May 7, 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. 61 www.jstor.org
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; August 25-October 27, 2002. "Early Italian Engravings: 1460s - 1530s."
    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=Giovanni Antonio da Brescia, Andrea Mantegna|year=late 1400s–early 1500s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.515