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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
132136
label
Bacchanal
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
132136
contentType
drawing
title
Bacchanal
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.
date
mid-1600s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80023891
creators
1224
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 26.3 x 43.5 cm (10 3/8 x 17 1/8 in.)
cul
Italy, 17th century
accession
1954.688
Source extras
tec
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
tombstone
Bacchanal, mid-1600s. Circle of Pietro da Cortona (Italian, 1596–1669). 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 Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1954.688
supportMaterials
description
light brown laid paper, laid down on cream(3) laid paper; embossed gold paper strips mounted to perimeter
collection
DR - Italian
inscriptions
inscription
VERSO OF SECONDARY SUPPORT, upper center, in graphite: 22 [underlined] , lower left, in brown ink: 15.t [crossed out in graphite] ; lower right, in graphite: Copy after Pal. Barberini ? / J. Sch / c f Ciro Ferri FR ; lower right, in graphite: P.da Cortona
didYouKnow
Goats were commonly associated with sinful behavior, making them a common element in Bacchic scenes.
creditline
The Norweb Collection
updatedAt
2026-06-12 11:24:19.035000
sourceId
132136
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Italian
med
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
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ebafa5bbe4c2e017