Art Institute of Chicago

Bacchanal with Silenus

Workshop of Andrea Mantegna

Date

1475/80

Medium

Engraving on laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Andrea Mantegna’s adoption of ancient Roman motifs contributed to their prominence during the Italian Renaissance, especially when translated into widely circulating and frequently copied engravings. Mantegna’s oblong bacchanalian subjects particularly extol the wonders of the god of wine as well as the excesses of his entourage. Indeed, in this print of a procession-like grouping of figures, Dionysos’s portly, inebriated sidekick Silenos receives mock preferential treatment as he is lifted by satyrs and crowned with grapevines. The drunken satyrs, nymphs, and humans sing, make music, and grapple with unwieldy flesh as they cross a pool of wine and press on through the vineyard.

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