Our Bacchus derives from statues famous in the seventeenth century, bringing together the features of the so-called Bacchus Girardon and Bacchus Mazarin (or Bacchus Richelieu), two antique marbles now in the Louvre, formerly part of the collections of Cardinal Richelieu in his extraordinary castle, both probably restored or reinvented by the Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy.

In the first statue, the god of wine holds a libation patera in his left hand, while resting on a vine intended to stabilize and balance the statue. In the second statue, his elbow relies on the vine and the contraposto is more important, as in our Bacchus. Our sculptor has also changed the antique pattern by dressing the figure with a large drapery agitated in a very baroque way.

With exacerbated muscles, the statue reminds us of the mannerism of Michelangelo's Bacchus, but is even closer to the slightly excessive characters that populate the compositions of the French ornemanist Jean Berain, whose influence was great on the decorative arts, and especially wood carving, found in large decoration works as well as furniture in the times of Louis XIV and the Regency.

Rare testimony of the wooden sculpture of the seventeenth century, which survived less often than its equivalent in stone, for various reasons.

Slight restorations to the gilding, small lacks. The sculpture is an assembly of wood pieces, whose junctions are visible in places and in some cases slightly mobile, especially in the arms.

   Material : Carved and gilt wood
   Origin : France
   Provenance : Paris art market
   Date : 1670-1700
   Dimensions : Height : 72 cm

        Ref. : md-169  

   Price & Conditions : Price on request -