The Intoxication of Wine

Art Historical Context

Clodion (Claude Michel), a master of French Rococo sculpture, crafted *The Intoxication of Wine around 1780– as a lively terracotta group. This dynamic composition captures a bacchanalian revelry, featuring exuberant female nudes as bacchantes—devotees of Bacchus, the god of wine—entwined with playful satyrs. Measuring 23 inches high, the sculpture pulses with movement, their twisting forms evoking the dizzying ecstasy of inebriation. Terracotta, Clodion's favored medium for bozzetti (preparatory models), allowed for its soft, malleable qualities that lent spontaneity and warmth to his sensual, mythological scenes. Created in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution, the work embodies the Rococo era's celebration of pleasure, fantasy, and the senses, contrasting the impending austerity of Neoclassicism. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the 1913 bequest of Benjamin Altman, this piece highlights Clodion's virtuosity in capturing flesh-like textures and joyful abandon, inviting viewers to revel in the timeless allure of wine-fueled abandon.