French Or German School Around 1800, Portrait Of A Young Bacchante

Oil on oak panel

H. 55 ; W. 44.5 cm

Emblematic figures of freedom and feminine debauchery, the bacchantes, also called maenads, are the women who devote themselves to the cult of Dionysus, or Bacchus.
They appear in his procession alongside the satyrs and symbolic animals of the god, such as goats or panthers. Lightly dressed in animal skins or draped fabrics, they carry the thyrsus as well as a crown made of ivy, vine leaves or vine branches.
The bacchantes indulge in dancing and drunkenness until they reach a state of trance.

Our bacchante wears a crown of vine leaves and adopts a posture marked by candor. Yet, her cheeks are flushed by games and dances, her garment slips from her shoulder and hair escapes from her headdress. It stands out against a delicate blue sky background, darkened by gray clouds.

Painting in very good condition, recently cleaned by a restorer.
Sold in its gilded wooden frame.