Infant Bacchants with Pipes, a Vase, and a Mask of Silenus

c. 1465/1471

Roman 15th Century

Associated Names
Roman 15th Century

Artist

The sculpture is a rectangular relief depicting five cherubic children engaged in playful activities. The figures have curly hair and wings, and some are sitting, standing, or kneeling closely together. The sculpture is crafted from a brown material and has a slightly weathered finish, surrounded by a rectangular frame. The relief emphasizes the details of the figures' expressions and movements raised against the background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 4.84 x 8.73 cm (1 7/8 x 3 7/16 in.)
    gross weight: 83.34 gr (0.184 lb.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.190

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Oscar Hainauer [d. 1894], Berlin; his wife, Julie Hainauer, Berlin; acquired 1906 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); by exchange 21 October 1920 to Joseph E. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, ed. Die Sammlung Oscar Hainauer / The Collection of Oscar Hainauer. [bound as one volume, English and German pages interleaved in one page sequence] Berlin, 1897 and London, 1906: 93, no. 203 (plaquette no. 63), as style of Donatello.

1908

  • A Cabinet of One Hundred & Thirty-Three Bronze Plaques and Medals of the Renaissance Period from the Collection of the Late Herr Oscar Hainauer of Berlin. Ed. Duveen Brothers. London, n.d. (but 1908): no. 94, repro., as style of Donatello.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 15.

1994

  • Dempsey, Charles. “Lorenzo’s Ombra.” In Lorenzo il Magnifico e il suo mondo. Gian Carlo Garfagnini, ed. Florence, 1994: 341–355, esp. 349, note 28, fig. 6, tentatively attributed to Bartolomeo Bellano, before 1471.

1997

  • Barstow, Kurtis. "'The Gualenghi-d'Este Hours': Art and Devotion in Renaissance Ferrara." Ph.D dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1997: viii, 22-23, 213 fig. I.10.

2011

  • Rossi, Francesco. La collezione Mario Scaglia: placchette. 3 vols. Bergamo, 2011: 1:81, under Prototipo, C.11, as by the circle of Cristoforo di Geremia, and as part of the Hainauer Collection,

Wikidata ID

Q63810123