The Banquet of Acheloüs

c. 1545

Luca Penni

Associated Names
Luca Penni

Artist, Italian, 1500/1504 - 1556

This is a drawing of a group gathered around a lavish table within a rocky grotto. The scene depicts an elaborate setting with numerous figures seated and interacting at a grand table adorned with various vessels and platters. The background is composed of rock formations. The figures are engaged in animated discussion or activity, enhancing the liveliness of the composition. The setting in natural rock and the presence of abundant food and drink evoke a sense of abundance and communal gathering.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink with brown and blue-gray washes, heightened with white gouache on laid paper washed light brown

  • Credit Line

    Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 30.4 x 47.4 cm (11 15/16 x 18 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2007.111.141

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

August Grahl, Dresden [1791 - 1868] (Lugt 1199); (his sale, Sotheby's London, 28 April 1885, no. 324, as Perino del Vaga). (sale, Max Perl, Berlin, 8-9 November 1926, no. 505). (sale, Weinmüller, Munich, 20-21 May 1941, no. 704). (sale, C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, 19 February 1942, no. 526). Bernhard Funck [1895-1993], Munich (not in Lugt). Herbert List [1903-1975], Munich (Lugt 4063); Ursula and Adolf Ratjen, Vaduz, for Wolfgang Ratjen; Wolfgang Ratjen, Munich; purchased by NGA, 2007.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1972

  • L'Ecole de Fontainebleau.Grand Palais, Paris. Paris, 1972, 129, no. 138 (entry by Sylvie Béguin).

1977

  • Stiftung Ratjen, Italienische Zeichnungen des 16.-18. Jahrhunderts. Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich; Staaliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin; Kunsthalle, Hamburg; Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf; Staatsgalerie, Graphische Sammlung, Stuttgart. Munich, 1977, 84, no. 36 (entry by Richard Harprath).

1979

  • Zeichnungen italienischer Meister aus den Sammlungen Schloss Fachsenfeld, Stiftung Ratjen Vaduz, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. Kunstmuseum Lucerne, 1979, 64, no. 110.

1995

  • Fünfzig italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts aus der Stiftung Ratjen, Vaduz. Liechtensteinischen Staatlichen Kunstsammlung, Vaduz, 1995, no. 2.

1996

  • Italian Drawings from the Ratjen Foundation, Vaduz. The Frick Collection, New York. Bern, 1996, no. 2.

2009

  • Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009, 26-27, 274-275, no. 4.

2011

  • Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1525-1835, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2011, no. 3.

Bibliography

1982

  • Miller, Naomi. Heavenly Caves: Reflections on the Garden Grotto. London, 1982: 53.

1988

  • Goldner, George R., et al. The J. Paul Getty Museum, European Drawings I. Malibu, 1988: 78, under no. 29.

1994

  • Brugerolles, Emmanuelle, and David Guillet. Le Dessin en France au XVIe siècle. Paris, 1994: 136 (published in English as The Renaissance in France: Drawings from the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Cambridge, 1994).

1996

  • Amico, Léonard H. Bernard Palissy et ses continuateurs: à la recherche du paradis terrestre. Paris, 1996, 49, 50, fig. 35.

Inscriptions

in white gouache on the table cloth at left of center: Luc Penni; on the verso, in graphite at center: 338

Watermarks

grapes with letters I and F (Briquet 13190)

Wikidata ID

Q64594063

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