Bacchic Putti
17th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 11/16 × 4 13/16 in. (9.3 × 12.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955
Accession Number
55.565.59
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings Prints department, *Bacchic Putti* is a delightful 17th-century French by an anonymous artist. This intimate sheet, measuring just 3 11/16 × 4 13/16 inches, captures playful putti—those chubby, winged cherubs of Renaissance and Baroque art—engaged in bacchanalian revelry. With tags highlighting "Putti" and "Drinking," the scene evokes the exuberant spirit of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine as the figures frolic amid indulgence, their forms rendered in fine, intricate lines typical of the engraving medium. Engravings like this one were revolu...