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Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children
Additional Images (7)

Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children

Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(Italian, Naples 1598–1680 Rome)

Artist: and Pietro Bernini (Italian, 1562–1629)
Date: ca. 1616–17
Culture: Italian, Rome
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): H. 52 1/8 x W. 29 x D. 18 7/8 in., 529lb. (132.4 x 73.7 x 47.9 cm, 239.9528kg)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchase, The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, Fletcher, Rogers, and Louis V. Bell Funds, and Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1976
Accession Number: 1976.92
On view in Gallery 534
Description Object Information Related Objects Online Resources Video Audio
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the heroic central figure in Italian Baroque sculpture. The influence of his father, the Florentine-born Pietro, can be seen here in the buoyant forms and cottony texture of the Bacchanal. The liveliness and strongly accented diagonals, however, are the distinctive contribution of the young Gian Lorenzo. Although about eighteen when he made this work, he already displayed what would become a lifelong interest in the rendering of emotional and spiritual exaltation. The Bacchanal reveals the young Bernini's intensive study of bacchic subject matter.
  • Provenance

    House of Gian Lorenzo Bernini , Rome (in 1706; listed in 1706 estate inventory) ; [ sale, Palais Galliéra , Paris, May 26, 1972, no. 74, as by Giambologna ] ; [ sale, Christie, Manson and Woods , London, March 21, 1973, no. 191, as by Luigi Bienaimé ] ; [ art market , Switzerland (by January 1975) ] ; [ Di Castro, Rome , 1975 ] ; [ P. & D. Colnaghi & Co (by November 1975–76; sold to MMA) ]

Some related objects from the collection
Autumn in the Guise of Priapus (one of a pair)

Autumn in the Guise of Priapus (one of a pair)
Pietro Bernini
(Italian, 1562–1629)
Date: 1616–17
Medium: Marble
Accession Number: 1990.53.2
On view in Gallery 534

Spring in the guise of Flora (one of a pair)

Spring in the guise of Flora (one of a pair)
Pietro Bernini
(Italian, 1562–1629)
Date: 1616–17
Medium: Marble
Accession Number: 1990.53.1
On view in Gallery 534

Triton with shell serving as saltcellar

Triton with shell serving as saltcellar
Follower of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(Italian, Naples 1598–1680 Rome)
Date: third quarter 17th century
Medium: Copper, parcel gilt and silver-gilt.
Accession Number: 64.101.1468
Not on view

Saint Agnes

Saint Agnes
After a model by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(Italian, Naples 1598–1680 Rome)
Date: third quarter 17th century
Medium: Bronze
Accession Number: 1978.202
On view in Gallery 550

Neptune with a Dolphin

Neptune with a Dolphin
After a model by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(Italian, Naples 1598–1680 Rome)
Date: 17th century
Medium: Bronze with black patina
Accession Number: 46.183
Not on view

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