Andrea Mantegna
(Italy 1431–1506)
- Title
- Bacchanal with a wine vat
- Other titles:
- Bacchanalians with a wine vat
Bacchanal with a wine press - Year
- early 1470s
- Media category
- Materials used
- engraving
- Dimensions
-
29.2 x 42.9cm image/sheet (irreg.)
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1938
- Accession number
- 8486
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Mantegna's art epitomizes the revival of the artistic ideas of antiquity that defines the Italian Renaissance. This classical scene was probably inspired by a Roman frieze, as might appear on a sarcophagus. In a setting of pagan revelry, the deity Bacchus is crowned with a vine wreath while a satyr dances in a puddle of wine and two inebriated putti lie sprawled in the foreground. The collector's mark at the top of the sheet, although partly cropped, identifies this engraving as having once belonged to Pope Benedict XIV (1675-1758). Most of his art collection was left to the city of Bologna.
- Bibliography (6)
-
'Mantegna to Piranesi Italian Old Master Prints from the Collection' by Richard Beresford, pg. 14-15., Look Jun 1998, Jun 1998, 14, 15 (illus.).
Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 112 (colour illus.).
Peter Raissis (Australia) (Author), Mantegna to Piranesi - Italian Old Master Prints from the Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 1998, 2 (illus.), 8. no catalogue numbers
Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 6 (colour illus.).
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 79 (illus.).
Nicholas Draffin (Australia, b.1943, d.1995) (Author), Piety and Paganism, Sydney, 1991, 4, 6 (illus.), 8. no catalogue numbers
- Exhibition history (3)
-
Piety and Paganism, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Jul 1991–29 Sep 1991.
Mantegna to Piranesi - Italian Old Master Prints from the Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 27 Jun 1998–20 Sep 1998.
Old Europe: Prints & drawings from the collection 1500-1800, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 03 Jun 2006–06 Aug 2006.
