The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Bacchanalian Relief

Bacchanalian Relief

200s CE
schist
Overall: 24.5 x 61 x 14 cm (9 5/8 x 24 x 5 1/2 in.)
Gift of Maxeen and John Flower in honor of Dr. Stanislaw Czuma 2011.140
Location: 242A Ancient India

Description

Grape vines create vignettes with scenes of drunken revelry on this architectural carving that once fit by joinery to other carved stone blocks at the base of a Buddhist monument. Bacchus himself, the Greco-Roman god of wine, may be the third figure from the left; bearded, portly, and inebriated, his garment slips as he collapses. Cupid and Aphrodite appear in the vignette on the right next to an amorous couple. On the side is a female nature divinity, grasping the branch of a tree, but unlike her counterparts from farther south in India, she is clothed in a long tunic, pants, and scarf associated with the dress of the Central Asian nomadic groups.
  • ?-July 2006
    (Taiyo Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to John and Maxeen Flower)
    July 2006-2011
    Dr. John and Maxeen Stone Flower [1928-2010], Shaker Heights, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2011-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Bacchanalian Relief|url=false|author=|year=200s CE|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.140