Bacchus

The Venetian Renaissance is carried on into the seventeenth century in the small bronze statuettes by Nicolò Roccatagliata, which are often charming, like this Bacchus, though totally devoid of the vitality so characteristic of Alessandro Vittoria.

The bronze statuette of Bacchus was made for an andiron. He stands, naked except for a girdle of vine leaves and grapes, his left foot forward, his right resting on a small barrel. His left hand is raised, holding a jug from which he is pouring wine into a (missing) cup held in his right hand. His head, crowned with vine leaves, is turned sharply to his left.