Bacchante
by EPINAY, Prosper d', Marble, height 76 cm
The son of an eminent lawyer and politician on the French island colony of Mauritius, d’Epinay left there to study art in Paris and later, Rome. Eventually he found great success in the salons and was favoured by an aristocratic clientele. The Bacchante is typical of cabinet erotic sculpture acquired to decorate the interiors of wealthy mansions. The features of the femme fatale evident here would soon become a stereotype of Symbolist art.