On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00418
- Author
- Titian [Vecellio di Gregorio Tiziano] (Italian)
- Title
- Bacchanal on Andros
- Chronology
- 1523-1526
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 175 cm x 193 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCIONREAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
A celebration of the effects of
wine on the island of Andros, where
wine flowed out of a spring thanks
to the god, Bacchus. A nude nymph
appears in the foreground, and
Silenus, the god's assiduous
companion, lies in the background.
The music on the score in the lower
center of the composition has been
attributed to Adriaen Willaert, a
Flemish composer active in the
Court of Ferrara. Its lyrics, “Qui
boyt et ne reboyt il ne seet que
boyre soit” (“He who drinks and
doesn't drink again, doesn't know
what drinking is.”) refer to the
celebration of wine by both men and
gods alike.
The subject is drawn from
Philostratus (Imagines I, 25), and
was painted here, along with other
works such as the Offering to Venus
(P419), for the so-called
“Alabaster Chamber” of Alfonso I de
Este in Ferrara. In 1598, the group
of Works was moved to the
Aldobrandini Palace in Rome and in
1637, Niccolo Ludovico turned them
over to Felipe IV (1605-1665) by
way of the Count of Monterrey as
payment by the State of Piombino.
The first documented mention of the
present work in Spain is in the
inventories of Madrid's Alcázar
Palace from 1666, 1686 and
1700.
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