Bacchus by Michelangelo Merisi and Caravaggio

Michelangelo da Caravaggio – an Italian artist who was one of those who first started working in the picturesque Baroque style, wrote “Bacchus” in a fairly calm and serene period of his life. This can be assumed on the basis of the fact that this character Caravaggio drew earlier, but not full of strength, a young man, and the sick and somewhat shabby peasant with a drunk face.

The picture is a portrait of a young man in the image of the Greek deity Bacchus. He is dressed, or rather, half dressed in white robes, belted with a black girdle, the end of which Bacchus holds in his right hand. With his left hand he holds out a wide glass full of wine, as if offering the spectator to take part in a feast. On the table in front of the deity is a bowl of fruit and a pot-bellied bottle of wine.

Bacchus is healthy and muscular, his cheeks are glowing with a blush of a healthy, unburdened person. But his face is plump and somehow feminine, there is nothing in the glance except a half-drunken languor, which is unknown in what can result in – whether in a fight with mythical drinking companions, or in a dream among the utensils utensils. The black resinous hair of the young man looks artificial, which may be true – there are references to the use of wigs by the artist.

Bacchus sits on a white veil, but it does not block a long-stained stripped pillow – a symbol of some uncleanness. The young man’s hand holding the glass probably did not wash for a long time, and dirt accumulated under the fingernails – it is more like the hand of a ragwort than the hand of an ancient deity.

Fruit on the table for the most part are suitable only for ejection – they are crushed, bitten, and some of them rotted and spoiled by caterpillars. Lying among them, a garnet that has lost its market appearance is a symbol of the loss of purity and innocence.