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The image shows a person seated with relaxed posture and one leg crossed over the other. They have curly red hair, soft facial features, and a slight smile. The person is depicted mostly unclothed with a cloth around their waist, holding a rod in one hand and a cup in the other. In the background, another figure is pouring liquid into the cup. The scene is set against an ancient architectural backdrop with warm hues and a dark frame.
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The image shows a person seated with relaxed posture and one leg crossed over the other. They have curly red hair, soft facial features, and a slight smile. The person is depicted mostly unclothed with a cloth around their waist, holding a rod in one hand and a cup in the other. In the background, another figure is pouring liquid into the cup. The scene is set against an ancient architectural backdrop with warm hues and a dark frame.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

Bacchus

John Singer Sargent

Date
1874-1880
Medium
pastel over graphite with metallic paint on wove paper mounted to paperboard
Dimensions
overall (two sheets): 63.82 × 42.86 cm (25 1/8 × 16 7/8 in.) mount: 66.99 × 49.53 cm (26 3/8 × 19 1/2 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
2015.19.715
Credit line
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs. Francis Ormond, sisters of the artist, 1949)
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CG-W
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • American
  • Cup
  • Figure
  • Wine
  • Male
  • Mythology
  • mythological
  • symbol
Provenance

Miss Emily Sargent and Mrs. Violet Sargent Ormond (sisters of the artist), Surrey, England; National Gallery (now known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, DC, 1929, left in storage at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1949; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Inscription

center verso of mount in graphite by unknown hand: #79

NGA object ID 184328. 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.