The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Bacchanal

mid–1600s

circle of Pietro da Cortona

(Italian, 1596–1669)
Italy, 17th century
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
Sheet: 26.3 x 43.5 cm (10 3/8 x 17 1/8 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1954.688
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

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.
  • ?–1954
    Emery May Holden Norweb (Mrs. R. Henry Norweb) [1895–1984], Cleveland, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 4, 1954–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    Concept, Dogma and Feeling: Italian Drawings 1550-1650. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 20, 1991).
    Drawings: Discoveries in the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 7-October 28, 1990).
    Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).
    Preview of Outstanding Recent Accessions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 3, 1955).
  • {{cite web|title=Bacchanal|url=false|author=Pietro da Cortona|year=mid–1600s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.688