Public domain · the revel, painted, drawn and engraved

The Bacchanal

The wine god’s company at full cry, from Mantegna’s copper to Bouguereau’s gold.

Bacchus, Silenus, the satyrs and the maenads as the painters of Venice, Antwerp, Mantua and Rome saw them over four centuries: Titian’s cupids in The Worship of Venus, Rubens’s Andrians in Stockholm, Mantegna’s engraved revels of the 1470s, Poussin’s Triumph of Bacchus in Kansas City and Bouguereau’s bacchante riding a panther. Every piece names the museum that holds it and the year it was made, and each was checked against its own Commons record before it went on the wall.

Bacchanal — Poussin’s early revel, crowded to the edges and dark with wine.

Bacchanal

Rome, 1624 to 1625

The Worship of Venus — Hundreds of cupids gathering apples under the goddess’s statue.

The Worship of Venus

Ferrara, 1518 to 1519

The Andrians — Rubens takes up Titian’s island revel and turns the heat higher.

The Andrians

Antwerp, 1630s

Bacchanalia — Silenus held up by satyrs in the dark of the grove.

Bacchanalia

Antwerp, c. 1615

The Feast of Venus — A goddess’s festival with satyrs, nymphs and a cloud of cupids.

The Feast of Venus

Antwerp, late 1630s

Worship of Venus — Rubens copies Titian’s cupids and keeps every one of them.

Worship of Venus

Antwerp, 1630s

The Triumph of Bacchus — The god’s chariot rolls, and the procession runs ahead of it.

The Triumph of Bacchus

Rome, 1635

Nymphs and Satyrs — A wood full of satyrs gathering fruit for the nymphs below.

Nymphs and Satyrs

Antwerp, 1635

Bacchanal (drawing) — Putti and goats at the vat, in brown ink.

Bacchanal (drawing)

Rome, c. 1635 to 1636

The Drunken Silenus, Supported by a Satyr and a Faun — Silenus walked home by two friends, cut in copper.

The Drunken Silenus, Supported by a Satyr and a Faun

Antwerp, 1625 to 1659

The Triumph of Bacchus — Bacchus as a broad Flemish drinker, crowned and carried along.

The Triumph of Bacchus

Antwerp, 17th century

Midas and Bacchus — King Midas kneels to ask the wine god for his golden wish.

Midas and Bacchus

Rome, c. 1624

Satyr with a Tiger — A satyr shares grapes with a child, a tiger at his feet.

Satyr with a Tiger

Antwerp, 17th century

The Triumph of Bacchus — A chariot drawn by tigers, the god heavy and laughing aboard.

The Triumph of Bacchus

Antwerp, 17th century

Drunken Silenus — Van Dyck’s Silenus, engraved so the whole of Europe could own it.

Drunken Silenus

Antwerp, 17th century

Bacchanal with Silenus — Silenus, crowned and soaked, carried along by the revel.

Bacchanal with Silenus

Mantua, 1481

Bacchanal with a Wine Vat — Bacchus steady with his horn of plenty, the mortals reeling around him.

Bacchanal with a Wine Vat

Mantua, 1470 to 1480

The Drinking Customs of Society, or Worship of Bacchus — All of Victorian life, gathered around a statue of the wine god.

The Drinking Customs of Society, or Worship of Bacchus

London, 1864

Bacchante on a Panther — A follower of Bacchus riding a panther across a field of gold.

Bacchante on a Panther

Paris, 1855

A Faun Grasping a Bunch of Grapes — A goat-legged faun squeezing grapes in black chalk.

A Faun Grasping a Bunch of Grapes

Antwerp, after 1616 to 1618

Bacchanal (drawing) — Silenus on the barrel, Bacchus at the right, everyone in between.

Bacchanal (drawing)

Rome, mid-1600s

Bacchanal with Silenus (Brescia) — Mantegna’s revel re-cut for a sharper print.

Bacchanal with Silenus (Brescia)

Italy, late 1400s to early 1500s

Nymphs and a Satyr (Amor Vincit Omnia) — A cupid drags Pan toward the goddess of love.

Nymphs and a Satyr (Amor Vincit Omnia)

Rome, c. 1625 to 1627

Ceres and Bacchus — The gods of bread and wine walking out arm in arm.

Ceres and Bacchus

Netherlands, 1600s