The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Bacchante on a Panther

Bacchante on a Panther

1855
(French, 1825–1905)
France, 19th century
oil on fabric
Framed: 87.3 x 127 x 5.4 cm (34 3/8 x 50 x 2 1/8 in.); Unframed: 71.4 x 111.3 cm (28 1/8 x 43 13/16 in.)
Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.238.2
Location: 201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture

Description

Part of a series of six paintings that decorated Etienne Bartholony's house in Paris, these paintings emulate ancient Roman designs. Crisp, cut out forms are set against a gold background painted in imitation of mosaic. Arion was an ancient Greek poet who escaped death by riding away on the back of a sea creature who had been attracted by the poet's song. In the companion picture, a bacchante—a female worshipper of the wine god Bacchus—rides on a panther, the god's symbolic animal. These works were shown at the 1857 Paris Salon exhibition.
  • Commissioned by Anatole Bartholoni, Paris. Paris sale, Drouot, 27 April 1933 (lot 32), Arion chevauchant un monstre marin (lot 33), Bacchante sur une panthère (repr.), Shepherd Gallery, New York, 1972. Christopher Gibbs Ltd., London, 1973. London sale, Sotheby's, 30 November 1977 (lot 208), Arion sur un dauphin; Bacchante sur une panthère (repr.), £6500. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980
  • Jullian, Philippe. "The Symbolists." Architectural Digest 31 (January/February 1975): 58-63. Reproduced: P. 59
    Wissman, Fronia E. Bouguereau. San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 22-24, pl. 5
    d' Argencourt, Louise, and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 76-79, cat. no. 30
    Bartoli, Damien, and Frederick C. Ross. William Bouguereau. Woodbridge Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club in cooperation with the Art Renewal Center, 2010. Mentioned and reproduced: Vol. II, p. 41, no. 1855/03B
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Mentioned: P. 182, 211, no. 27 www.jstor.org
  • Heroines. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (March 8-June 12, 2011).
    Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (3/8/2011 - 6/12/2011): "Heroines"
    New York Cultural Center. William Adolphe Bouguereau (1974-75), 20.
    Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Salon (1857), no. 327, Arion sur un cheval marin, no. 328, Bacchante sur une panthère.
  • {{cite web|title=Bacchante on a Panther|url=false|author=William Adolphe Bouguereau|year=1855|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.238.2