Bacchus and Ariadne
Dublin Core
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Description
Titian was commissioned by the Court of Ferrara to create the Bacchus and Ariadne for placement in the Alabaster Room in the ducal palace [1]. This collection was one of the most important and highly valued at the time, since it featured works from artists such as Raphael, Dosso Dossi, Giovanni Bellini, and Titian [1]. Therefore, Titian’s work appeared alongside others in a series of paintings that complemented each other, all of which consisted of mythological ideology.
Ariadne, a princess and the daughter of the King Minos of Crete, was abandoned on the island of Naxos by Thesues [2].. Bacchus, the god of wine, finds her on the island when he visits and instantly falls in love with her [2]. Scholars such as Edgar Wind believe the painting could be a representation of their last encounter (as found in Ovid’s Fasti, iii), making the leap from the chariot and the record that Ariadne was sleeping when Bacchus found her understandable parts of the image [3]. However, the conventional interpretation of the work bases the context off of Ovid’s Metamorphoses [3]. Ariadne is pictured on the left side of the image in bright, blue luxurious garments. In the middle, Bacchus is pictured suspended in the air. He is almost fully nude, with a bright rose cape covering part of his lower body and dangling in the air behind him. His position conveys a sense of motion and action in the painting, portraying his unfathomable love for Ariadne that he can’t restrain. The image exhibits an asymmetrical balance, with various figures (of whom are followers/servants to Bacchus) on the right side of the image and Ariadne’s sole figure on the right. If the image is split diagonally from the bottom left corner to the top right corner, one side appears very light and is dominated by blue pigment while the other is much darker and more condensed, dominated by skin tones and some green vegetation [1].
The two cheetahs in the image serve as a representation of Alfonso d’Este’s obsession with the exotic and his berserk nature. While the piece was meant to convey the mythological tale, it was also supposed to be a representation of his court and a portrayal of his legacy.
[1]ColourLex, n.d, Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, ColourLex, accessed October 5, 2020, https://colourlex.com/project/titian-bacchus-ariadne/.
[2] Richard Stemp, The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art, (United Kingdom: Duncan Baird, 2006).
[3] Angus Easson, "The Source of Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 32 (1969), 396-97.
Creator
Source
Stemp, Richard. The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art. United Kingdom: Duncan Baird, 2006.
Easson, Angus. "The Source of Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 32 (1969): 396-97. doi:10.2307/750625.
Image Source: Titian, active about 1506; died 1576. 1520-3. Bacchus and Ariadne. Place: The National Gallery, London, Bought, 1826. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ANGLIG_10313768527.
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Image Source: Titian, active about 1506; died 1576. 1520-3. Bacchus and Ariadne. Place: The National Gallery, London, Bought, 1826. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ANGLIG_10313768527.
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