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The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus)

Claude Michel (Clodion)

  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 2
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 3
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 4
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 5
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 6
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 7
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 8
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 9
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 10
  • The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus) 11
Basic information
ID
С-I-610
Author
Claude Michel (Clodion)
Name
The Triumph of Bacchus (or The Childhood of Bacchus)
Date of creation
2nd half of the 18th c.
Country
France
Technique
moulding
Material
bronze
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
39 x 24 x 20
Additionally
Type
sculpture
Genre
mythological painting
Plot
The Childhood of Bacchus
Provenance
Collection of Wladyslaw Lozinski in Lviv Collection of Lviv City Gallery
Information about author
Author
Claude Michel (Clodion)
Artist's lifetime
1738–1814
Country
France
Biography
Claude Michel (Clodion) (20 December 1738, Nancy - 29 March 1814, Paris) was a French sculptor and a representative of the chamber movement of Neoclassicism. He belonged to the dynasty of Lorraine sculptors. The artist received his first lessons from his father, Thomas Michel, a court sculptor of the Prussian king. Later, he studied in Paris under the famous sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In 1759 and 1761, he won the main prize and a silver medal at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In 1762, he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Academy of Art for nine years. The exquisite plasticity of Clodion's works, mainly depicting nymphs, erots, satyrs, and bacchanals, gained him popularity, commissions, and professional recognition. Upon his return to France in 1771, the sculptor was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In addition to works on the theme of "gallant mythology", Clodion is the author of portraits, the composition "Dying Cleopatra", models of statuettes for the Sèvres Manufactory, drawings of plaques, vases, and candelabra. The master worked in marble, bronze and terracotta. He reproduced his works and put them on sale, which was an innovation for his time.
Object description
One of Claudion’s most popular works, known mainly from 19th-century copies. Variants are preserved in many museums and private collections. The work is based on Ovid’s "Tristia". According to mythology, the young Bacchus (Dionysus) was raised by Ino, the sister of his mother Semele, who was punished by Hera for her adultery with Zeus, and Ino’s husband, the Boeotian king Athamas. The dynamic sculptural scene depicts a man and a woman walking forward. On the right, a young man (Athamas) walks in a slightly bent position, because a small naked boy (Bacchus) sits on his back, triumphantly raising his right hand. Athamas holds the child with his left hand, turning his head to the left, where the figure of a young woman (Ino) is depicted with a bare bust. The woman, raising her right hand, leans back, directing her gaze at the triumphant Bacchus. A spacious tied bundle is modelled under the man’s feet. Behind Ino, another little boy (the son of Ino and Athamas, Learchus (?)) catches up with the group, raising his hands and playing a tambourine. On the reverse side of the sculptural composition, the draperies of the characters’ light cloaks are modelled in detail. The sculptural group is mounted on a low podium, to which it is attached with screws.
Inscriptions
Engraving on the podium states: "Clodion". On the edge of the pedestal, there is an inscription in white: "С-І-610/ Л.ОКГ". On the reverse side, in a recess of the podium, there is an inscription in black: "75. GNML".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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