A False Bacchus Crowning Drunkards
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 12 5/8 × 17 1/8 in. (32 × 43.5 cm) Sheet: 14 1/8 × 20 1/2 in. (35.8 × 52 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924
Accession Number
24.97.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Spanish art, *A False Bacchus Crowning Drunkards* stands as a striking etching attributed to both Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, dated 1778. Created during Goya's early career, just as he was rising in Madrid's artistic circles, this print likely draws inspiration from Velázquez's earlier masterpiece *The Triumph of Bacchus* (also known as *Los Borrachos*), where the Roman god of wine crowns revelers. Goya's rendition, marked by the satirical title "A False Bacchus," cleverly twists this classical myth into a critique of excess, vividly capturing me...