Bacchants
Medium
Hand-colored etching, with aquatint (?)
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 3/8 × 9 13/16 in. (18.8 × 25 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant hand-colored etching from 1786 captures the lively revelry of Bacchants—devotees of the Roman god Bacchus—surrounded by satyrs and nymphs in a scene of communal drinking and celebration. Created through etching and aquatint techniques, the print was likely hand-tinted to enhance its dynamic energy, allowing the figures’ expressive gestures and flowing drapery to stand out on the modest sheet measuring just 7 3/8 by 9 13/16 inches. The work reflects the late eighteenth-century fascination with classical mythology, reimagined through the witty, satirical lens often associated with ...
About the Artist
Elizabeth Jackson|James Jefferys|Thomas Rowlandson (British|British) · 1785 |1757 –1787 |1827
British, active 1785–87|British, London 1757–1827 London