Lot Essay
This festive subject depicts the god of wine, Bacchus, a naked youth holding a Thyrsus, the ancient fertility symbol. His female devotee, the Maenad is beating the tambourine and dancing amidst bacchantes and horn players.
Keller painted this bacchanal when he had settled in The Hague already for seven years. He was a well-sought after artist to decorate The Hague houses and public buildings.
Anna van Hannover, widow to Stadtholder Willem IV, commissioned as many as twenty-five paintings in 1752 for the Stadtholder's residence.
Keller painted this bacchanal when he had settled in The Hague already for seven years. He was a well-sought after artist to decorate The Hague houses and public buildings.
Anna van Hannover, widow to Stadtholder Willem IV, commissioned as many as twenty-five paintings in 1752 for the Stadtholder's residence.