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This free-standing bronze sculpture shows a nude, cleanshaven man looking at a bunch of grapes he holds up in one hand as a faun, a boy with goat’s legs, looks on. In this photograph, the man’s lean, muscular body is angled to our left, and we see his face in profile. He has a straight nose, and his lips curl up in a smile. A leafy vine wraps around his thick, wavy hair, and another bunch of grapes hangs at the back of his neck. He holds the other bunch of grapes up high in his right hand, to our left. He holds a shallow dish in his other hand, with that bent elbow tucked near his ribcage. He stands with most of his weight on his left leg, to our right, so his hips and shoulders gently twist upward to the raised hand. The toes of his other foot rest behind him, his heel raised. To our right, the child-like faun comes up to the man’s hip. He has chubby cheeks and a small nose but muscles are defined in his torso and arms. He also has grape leaves on his head, with clusters of grapes at each ear. Wide-eyed and with an open smile, he gazes up toward the bowl and grapes that the man holds. A fabric strap is knotted on the faun’s right shoulder, and it runs diagonally across his body to his left hip where he holds two more large bunches of grapes and leaves. His upper thighs are covered with dense, wavy hair, while his lower legs are mostly bare, ending in cloven hooves. The pair stand on a circular base with bunches of grapes around the faun’s feet and hanging over the edge. The bronze is dark brown with bright white reflections where the light falls across the smooth surfaces. Touches of muted green patina are visible in some spots. The entire piece stands on a square, stone base marbled with tan and cream white, and the background is light gray.
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This free-standing bronze sculpture shows a nude, cleanshaven man looking at a bunch of grapes he holds up in one hand as a faun, a boy with goat’s legs, looks on. In this photograph, the man’s lean, muscular body is angled to our left, and we see his face in profile. He has a straight nose, and his lips curl up in a smile. A leafy vine wraps around his thick, wavy hair, and another bunch of grapes hangs at the back of his neck. He holds the other bunch of grapes up high in his right hand, to our left. He holds a shallow dish in his other hand, with that bent elbow tucked near his ribcage. He stands with most of his weight on his left leg, to our right, so his hips and shoulders gently twist upward to the raised hand. The toes of his other foot rest behind him, his heel raised. To our right, the child-like faun comes up to the man’s hip. He has chubby cheeks and a small nose but muscles are defined in his torso and arms. He also has grape leaves on his head, with clusters of grapes at each ear. Wide-eyed and with an open smile, he gazes up toward the bowl and grapes that the man holds. A fabric strap is knotted on the faun’s right shoulder, and it runs diagonally across his body to his left hip where he holds two more large bunches of grapes and leaves. His upper thighs are covered with dense, wavy hair, while his lower legs are mostly bare, ending in cloven hooves. The pair stand on a circular base with bunches of grapes around the faun’s feet and hanging over the edge. The bronze is dark brown with bright white reflections where the light falls across the smooth surfaces. Touches of muted green patina are visible in some spots. The entire piece stands on a square, stone base marbled with tan and cream white, and the background is light gray.

National Gallery of Art · Sculpture

Bacchus and a Faun

Probably Milanese 16th Century

Date
1580/1600
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall: 181.5 x 76 x 65.2 cm (71 7/16 x 29 15/16 x 25 11/16 in.) gross weight: 263.54 kg (581 lb.)
Classification
Sculpture · Statue
Accession number
1937.1.133
Credit line
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Time span
1551 to 1600
Department
CSD
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • European Sculpture 1300-1800
  • classical
  • mythology
  • Renaissance
  • Milanese
  • Bacchus
  • Faun
Provenance

Installed in the garden, outside the nymphaeum, of the Villa Litta Visconti Borromeo, Lainate, near Milan, before 1617 (and possibly part of the original installation completed in 1589);[1] purchased c. 1865 by "Prince Napoleon,"[2] Palais Royal, Paris; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 9-11 May 1872, 2nd day, no. 221, with NGA 1937.1.132 as no. 222); Wareham; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25 July 1891, no. 91, with NGA 1937.1.132 as no. 92, withdrawn); (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 20 May 1892, no. 147, with NGA 1937.1.132 as no. 146).[3] Marquis de Ganay, Paris, by 1913; purchased by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[4] purchased 15 December 1936 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[5] gift 1937 to NGA. [1] Giancarlo Gentilini and Alessandro Morandotti, "The Sculptures of the Nymphaeum at Lainate: The Origins of the Mellon _Venus_ and _Bacchus_." _Studies in the History of Art_ 24 (1990): 135-171, especially Appendices A and B, which detail the documentary evidence, and 166 n. 3, which discusses the later history of the sculpture's whereabouts and details the inaccuracies in previously published versions of the provenance. [2] This was probably Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte (1822-1891), who was a first cousin to Napoleon III, and commonly known as Prince Napoleon and occasionally as Prince Jerome Napoleon. He occupied the Palais Royal during Napoleon III's rule as head of the Second French Empire, 1852-1870. [3] The 1891 and 1892 sales were kindly brought to the Gallery's attention by Patricia Wengraf; see her e-mails of 3 February 2009 to Alison Luchs, in NGA curatorial files. Both sales, according to the catalogues, were ordered by the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice as part of the case of Trau v. Wareham. The sellers are recorded in both years as Messrs. Rye and Eyre of Golden Square, London; the buyer in 1892 is recorded only as the initial "J." Lynda McLeod, Librarian, Christie's Archives, kindly provided the seller and buyer information in her e-mail of 1 August 2012, in NGA curatorial files. [4] Letter from G.H. McCall, Librarian for Duveen Brothers to Charles Seymour, Jr., 6 March 1940, in NGA curatorial files. [5] The original Duveen Brothers invoice is in Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files; the sculpture is listed as by Jacopo Sansovino.

NGA object ID 140. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.