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Bacchus and Ariadne
Titian · Renaissance & Mannerism
- Artist
- Titian (Tiziano Vecellio, c. 1488–1576)
- Date
- 1520–1523
- Dimensions
- 176.5 x 191 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne tells the story of Ariadne, abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus, at the moment the wine god Bacchus arrives and falls in love with her at first sight. It was painted for the private study of Duke Alfonso d’Este in Ferrara.
A closer look
Bacchus leaps from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, towards the startled Ariadne, who turns away towards the sea where Theseus’s ship is disappearing. Behind him comes a noisy procession of satyrs and revellers, one wrapped in snakes, a child satyr dragging a calf’s head. Above Ariadne, the stars of a crown shine in the sky: Bacchus will turn her crown into a constellation. Titian’s blazing blues and reds were made with the most expensive pigments available.
History of the painting
Bacchus and Ariadne was one of a series of mythological paintings commissioned by Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for his private study, the camerino d'alabastro, alongside works by Giovanni Bellini and Dosso Dossi. When Ferrara passed to the Papal States in 1598, Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini took the pictures to Rome. After two centuries in Roman collections the painting came to England, and in 1826 it was bought by the young National Gallery, one of its first great acquisitions.
A cleaning in the late 1960s, which removed old discoloured varnish to reveal Titian's intense blues and pinks, provoked fierce controversy; today the brilliant colours are regarded as true to the painter's intentions.
