19th-Century Terracotta Object, Bacchus and Bacchantes Celebrating the Grape Harvest

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Patinated terracotta group featuring bacchus as a child accompanied by three bacchantes as they celebrate the harvesting of grapes. The … Read more Patinated terracotta group featuring bacchus as a child accompanied by three bacchantes as they celebrate the harvesting of grapes. The bacchantes, wearing flowing stolas and grapevine wreaths on their heads, are seated among clusters of grapes. The ensemble is set on an oblong, oak base. French school from the 19th century. Illegible signature on the back. Harvest festivals were intimately connected to the worship of bacchus (dionysus), the god of wine, drunkenness, excess, and nature in greco-roman mythology. These popular annual feasts celebrated the beginning of the grape harvest, with the participation of bacchantes, or maenads, female followers of the god. Numerous works of art place bacchus in the center of his adorers as they drink goblets of wine or engage in uninhibited dancing, circa 1850 dimension: l 19.7 in, w 8.7 in, h 16.5 in dimension: l 50 cm, w 22cm, h 42 cm. See less