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Lot Essay
La reine Bacchanal, Zuber-Buhler's submission to the Salon of 1864, strikes the viewer as an exceptional piece in the artist's oeuvre. It does so with its grand scale and superior composition involving the female nude. His choice of the subject matter is a true classic - to be more accurate bacchanal scenes are a favorite of the Renaissance and Baroque masters such as Bellini, Titian (fig. 1) and Rubens. It is largely accepted that Bellini's painting of Feast of the Gods was an inspiration for Titian's triptych of Bacchus and Ariadne, The Andrians, and the Feast of Gods which in return was an inspiration for Rubens' versions of both Bacchus and Ariadne as well as The Andrians. In a way, Zuber-Buhler represents himself as a follower of these great masters by re-working the same subject matter and by using visual references to the above mentioned works. One could suggest that this painting is the embodiment of Zuber-Buhler's mastery as a classically trained painter.
Within the present work there are references to Titian's version of The Andrians, mainly through the standing Venus figure. Titian, unlike Bellini's version of the Feast of Gods, is the first to depict the goddess Venus fully nude. This reclining figure in Titian's work is not just the goddess of beauty, she sparks up a feeling of tremendous sensuality and allures the viewer. What is most interesting in Titian's composition is that no other figure in the painting seems to be remotely effected or distracted by Venus' captivating attraction. Venus' overbearing sensuality does not make herself or her companions conscious of their drunkenness nor of their nudity. They appear to be ecstatic with pleasure caused by their state of drunkenness, yet not one of them display the wild characteristics of ancient inscriptions of the bacchanals and the feasts, such as by Philostratus in 3 A.D.
Zuber-Buhler places his Venus in an upright contraposto position surrounded by nine Nymphs, at first sight a quite different take on the composition when compared with Titian's version. Zuber-Buhler reduces the physical isolation of his Venus through the placement of the nymphs but increases the feeling of unintended sensuality, as none of the nine nymphs in her immediate presence appear to be paying any attention at all to her very expressive pose. Furthermore, there is only one figure in the entire composition staring at the Venus figure, the Spring Nymph (at the bottom left), who is an allusion to Dionysos himself. It was Dionysos who came to the Island of Andros by water, and his arrival would charge the land with wine so that it would burst forth and send up a river of wine. This Spring Nymph symbols the arrival of Dionysos, hence, wine and drunkenness on the Island of Andros. Through this symbolism and the connection between Venus and the spring nymph Zuber-Buhler suggests a very delicate explanation to the mood, particularly that of abundant sensuality present on the island but through the same means he also hints that further into the feast, inevitably, more may be unleashed.
In turn La reine Bacchanal was a source of inspiration for another masterpiece, The Nymphaeum (fig. 2), of 1878 by William Bouguereau in which Bouguereau follows Zuber-Buhler's interpretation of the landscape of the imaginary island of Andros.
fig. 1
Titian, The Andrians, 1520-21, Prado Museum, Madrid.
fig. 2
William Bouguereau, The Nymphaeum, 1878, The Haggin Museum, Stockton, California.
Within the present work there are references to Titian's version of The Andrians, mainly through the standing Venus figure. Titian, unlike Bellini's version of the Feast of Gods, is the first to depict the goddess Venus fully nude. This reclining figure in Titian's work is not just the goddess of beauty, she sparks up a feeling of tremendous sensuality and allures the viewer. What is most interesting in Titian's composition is that no other figure in the painting seems to be remotely effected or distracted by Venus' captivating attraction. Venus' overbearing sensuality does not make herself or her companions conscious of their drunkenness nor of their nudity. They appear to be ecstatic with pleasure caused by their state of drunkenness, yet not one of them display the wild characteristics of ancient inscriptions of the bacchanals and the feasts, such as by Philostratus in 3 A.D.
Zuber-Buhler places his Venus in an upright contraposto position surrounded by nine Nymphs, at first sight a quite different take on the composition when compared with Titian's version. Zuber-Buhler reduces the physical isolation of his Venus through the placement of the nymphs but increases the feeling of unintended sensuality, as none of the nine nymphs in her immediate presence appear to be paying any attention at all to her very expressive pose. Furthermore, there is only one figure in the entire composition staring at the Venus figure, the Spring Nymph (at the bottom left), who is an allusion to Dionysos himself. It was Dionysos who came to the Island of Andros by water, and his arrival would charge the land with wine so that it would burst forth and send up a river of wine. This Spring Nymph symbols the arrival of Dionysos, hence, wine and drunkenness on the Island of Andros. Through this symbolism and the connection between Venus and the spring nymph Zuber-Buhler suggests a very delicate explanation to the mood, particularly that of abundant sensuality present on the island but through the same means he also hints that further into the feast, inevitably, more may be unleashed.
In turn La reine Bacchanal was a source of inspiration for another masterpiece, The Nymphaeum (fig. 2), of 1878 by William Bouguereau in which Bouguereau follows Zuber-Buhler's interpretation of the landscape of the imaginary island of Andros.
fig. 1
Titian, The Andrians, 1520-21, Prado Museum, Madrid.
fig. 2
William Bouguereau, The Nymphaeum, 1878, The Haggin Museum, Stockton, California.