Bacchus and Ceres Leaving Venus (Sine Cerere et Baccho Friget Venus)
c. 1597
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 50.3 × 35.5 cm (19 13/16 × 14 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
268775
Art Historical Context
Jan Harmensz. Muller’s *Bacchus and Ceres Venus (Sine Cer et Baccho Friget)*, created around 1597, is a masterful engraving that captures a whimsical yet poignant mythological scene. The title draws from a Latin proverb—“Without Ceres and Bac, Venus grows cold”—izing how love (Venus) withers without sustenance (Ceres, goddess of grain) and revelry (Bacchus, god of wine). Muller, Dutch engraver active in Antwerp, deftly renders the deities in dynamic poses, evoking the sensuous elegance of Italian Renaissance masters like Paolo Veronese, whose compositions he often reproduced. Printed on luxur...
About the Artist
Jan Harmensz. Muller · 1571–1628
Comment on works: Printer and Draughtsman