Drunken Silenus (the "Tazza Farnese")
c. 1597
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image in: Diam.: 32 cm (12 5/8 in.); Sheet: 42.7 × 32 cm (16 13/16 × 12 5/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
74123
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Contemporary accounts described the slightly curved printing plate (Capodimonte Museum, Naples) for this Carracci engraving as an artwork and a vessel for drinking or serving wine: “More beautiful . . . is Silenos engraved on a silver salver for Cardinal Farnese.” A Roman gem from Farnese’s extensive collection likely supplied the image, while the plate’s shape mimicked ancient kylixes, such as this one (1889.118), which was incised with a delicate geometrical design while the clay was still wet...
About the Artist
Annibale Carracci · 1560–1609
Annibale was considered one of the greatest Italian painters of his age. His style is marked by naturalism combined with the formal language of Classicism in a grand and monumental style. Annibale was also instrumental in evolving the ideal, classical landscape and is generally credited with the invention of caricature. Italian painter. Comment on works: Mythology.