Bacchanal
Medium
Pen and brown ink, on tan laid paper, tipped onto tan laid paper
Dimensions
11.5 × 34.7 cm (4 9/16 × 13 11/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
85867
Art Historical Context
Discover the exuberant *Bacchanal* by Baroque artist Raymond Lafage1656–1690), a masterful pen and brown ink drawing on tan laid paper, now tipped for preservation onto similar paper. Measuring a slender 11.5 × 34.7 cm, its elongated horizontal format evokes a lively procession or frieze, perfectly suited to Lafage's specialty: dynamic scenes of mythological revelry inspired by classical antiquity. Lafage active in late 17th-century France drew from the grand traditions of Rubens and Italian, infusing his works with fluid, energetic lines that capture motion and abandon. Bacchanals like this ...