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Core Record |
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| Title | The Infancy of Bacchus | |
| Alternative Title | Venus and the Infant Bacchus | |
| Collection | Dundee Art Galleries and Museums / McManus Galleries | |
| Artist | Attributed to Boullogne, Louis de (French painter and printmaker, 1654-1733) Previously attributed to school of Boucher, François (French painter, engraver, and designer, 1703-1770) Previously attributed to school of Lairesse, Gerard de (Flemish painter, printmaker, and draftsman, 1640-1711) |
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| Date Earliest | probably 1700 | |
| Date Latest | probably 1710 | |
| Description | The depiction of the infancy of the god Bacchus at Nysa unfolds with a goat seducing a nymph who reclines in parallel to the picture plane. The goat gazes at her fervently, its left foot placed on her left thigh. The enthralled nymph picks a rose from the crown of flowers adorning the goat's head. Bacchus, riding an old satyr, looks on from the right. A young satyr engages a putto by pointing his finger at the flirting game. On the left, a satyr looms in, lusting after the nymph. Two obese, drunk and chortling figures riding a shrieking donkey enter from behind. | |
| Current Accession Number | 189-1912 | |
| Former Accession Number | 26 | |
| Inscription | ` | |
| Subject | mythology (Infancy of Bacchus) | |
| Measurements | 152.4 x 189.8 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Bequeathed by Mrs Chapman before 1912 | |
| Principal Exhibitions | British Association Fine Art Exhibition, Victoria Art Galleries, Dundee, 1912, cat. no. 6. | |
| Publications | Illustrated Catalogue of a Loan Collection of Paintings, etc., in the Victoria Art Galleries, Dundee, on the occasion of the British Association Meeting, Dundee, 1912, p. 23, cat. no. 6; Millar, A. H., Catalogue of Pictures and Sculpture in the Permanent Collection of Dundee Art Gallery, Dundee, 1926, cat. no. 26; Hardie, W., Dundee City Art Gallery Catalogue, Dundee, 1973, p. 17; Schnapper, A. and Guicharnaud, H., Louis de Boullogne (1654-1733) , Paris, 1986. | |
| Notes | Attribution: The picture entered the collection in 1912 as by François Boucher. Exhibited in 1912 as Venus and the Infant Bacchus by an unknown artist. The picture bore a tentative attribution to Gerard de Lairesse from 1952 until 1972. The title Venus and the Infant Bacchus was used until 1971. In 1971, Anita Brookner (Courtauld Institute) suggested the present dating and attribution to Louis de Boullogne. | |
| Rights Owner | © McManus Galleries and Museum | |
| Author | Dr Claudia Heide | |