Bacchus and Ariadne

Details

Jean-François de Troy (Paris 1679-1752 Rome)
Bacchus and Ariadne
oil on canvas
51½ x 45 in. (130.8 x 114.3 cm.)

Sale room notice

Please note that Christophe Leribault has not seen the present paintings and does not endorse the attribution to Jean-François de Troy.

We are grateful to Professor Domique Brême for having pointed out that the paintings are by François Marot (Paris 1666-1719). Dominique Brême will publish the present series of paintings in an article on the artist.

Lot Essay

The god of Wine arrives on the island Naxos to rescue Ariadne, the abandoned daughter of King Minos of Crete, as she laments her fate. Behind Bacchus is his leopard-drawn chariot and retinue of followers, notably the drunken Silenus (Metamorphoses 8: 176-182). De Troy had previously depicted the subject in 1725 in a celebrated canvas in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (no. P.125).

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