Bacchus and a Faun
19th century
Medium
marble
Dimensions
overall: 170.4 x 56 x 66.4 cm (67 1/16 x 22 1/16 x 26 1/8 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1952.5.95
Art Historical Context
This marble sculpture, titled *Bacchus and a Faun*, captures the lively spirit of classical mythology through the figures of Bacchus, the god of wine, and his companion faun. Created in the 19th century by an anonymous French artist working after Jacopo Sansovino, it reflects a later interpretation of the celebrated Italian Renaissance sculptor’s style. Sansovino, active in 16th-century Venice, was renowned for blending ancient Roman forms with Renaissance vitality, and this work carries forward that tradition in a fresh medium. Carved from a single block of marble measuring over five feet ta...