Modern · Art Institute of Chicago · 729
Anacreon with the Infants Bacchus and Cupid
Jean Léon Gérôme, Modeled 1878, cast c. 1893
Art Institute of Chicago · Gift of Gustave Leblanc Barbedienne · Public domain
- Artist
- Jean Léon Gérôme
- Date
- Modeled 1878, cast c. 1893
- Medium
- Bronze
- Dimensions
- 72.4 × 43.8 cm (28 1/2 × 17 1/4 in.)
- Era
- Modern
Why it matters
In the early 19th century, industrial approaches to production created a new middle-class market for small-scale bronze statuettes, which were displayed in domestic interiors. This statuette is a reduced version of a larger-than-life composition depicting the ancient Greek poet Anacreon cradling Bacchus and Cupid. As the god of wine and pleasure, the infant Bacchus is wreathed in vine leaves and holds a bunch of grapes. Cupid, god of love, bears feathered wings and presses his cheek to the poet’s. French bronze foundry Barbedienne reproduced this popular work in five different sizes.