Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children

Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Pietro Bernini

ca. 1616–17 · Marble · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The complex composition of intertwined figures, skillfully carved in the round from a narrow block, is the most ambitious marble made in partnership by Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini. Based on ancient sarcophagi, this bacchic revel already shows Gian Lorenzo’s boldness in challenging antiquity. He tests the limits of sculpture and renders a host of motifs in different textures of marble: the supple children, one sticking out his tongue; the smooth, muscular tension of the toothless faun; and the tree’s bark and juicy fruits. This group was recorded in the inventory of Gian Lorenzo’s home at the time of his death.

Artist

Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Pietro Bernini

Date

ca. 1616–17

Medium

Marble

Culture

Italian, Rome

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, Fletcher, Rogers, and Louis V. Bell Funds, and Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1976