Bacchus Nursed by the Nymphs of Nyssa

Artist William Dyce (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1806 - 1864)

Associated Bacchus

Date1827

Mediumpen and ink heightened with white on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 22.8 cm, Width: 32.7 cm
Frame: Height: 50.3 cm, Width: 60.9 cm

AcquisitionBequeathed in 1940 by Miss Ella C Dyce.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG003224

Keywords

About MeThis careful pen and ink drawing is one of three preparatory studies for Dyce's first exhibition piece, a finished oil of the same title, now lost. It is interesting to note how many alterations Dyce made to the composition; in this drawing, Bacchus is an ordinary infant, but has been given the legs, hooves and pointed ears of a satyr in the subsequent oil sketch (right). The centaur who pours the grape juice here has been banished to the extreme right edge of the oil sketch and has been replaced by Silenus, a congenial companion of the adult Bacchus, who always appears in Bacchanalian processions.

Dyce has placed his figures in the drawing close to the surface plane and in a less crowded and rather more sedate group, with a greater sense of space afforded by the three distant figures on the right.
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This careful pen and ink drawing was one of three studies for Dyce's first exhibition piece, an oil painting which is now lost