Bacchus and Drunken Silenus—The Dream of Silenus
1635/40
Medium
Etching and engraving in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 32.6 × 42.9 cm (12 7/8 × 16 15/16 in.); Plate: 34.6 × 44 cm (13 5/8 × 17 3/8 in.); Sheet: 42.2 × 53.2 cm (16 5/8 × 21 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
221701
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This etching after a Rubens painting of 1610/15 (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna) boasts an opulent display of half-filled and drained drinking vessels, a passed-out Silenos and an unfazed Dionysos, who continues sipping from the basin into which his attendant is squeezing grapes. The drunken scene suggests a Greek symposium, despite the outdoor setting and lack of couches. Fascinated by antiquity, Rubens built a Pantheon-like museum complete with an oculus at his Antwerp home. It housed 90 ancient...