Giuseppe Maria Mazza

Exhibited by Brun Fine Art

Material Terracotta

Dimensions 64 × 30 cm

Price Available upon inquiry

Status Vetted

About the Work

Bacchus, the youthful god of wine, modelled in the round in clay, full-length and standing on a semi-circular base with a tree trunk rising from it – reminiscent of classical statuary –, has a head encircled by a luxuriant wreath of vines and grapes, his specific attribute. Posed in a sinuous contrapposto that accentuates his musculature, he rests on his right leg with his hip extended as if to follow the action of the bent arm, lifting a bunch of grapes full of juicy fruit. The god’s attention is concentrated on the latter: his head is inclined sideways and downwards, following the gaze focused on the fruit of the vine, which brings inebriation and joy.

The expression on his round and chubby face is suggestive of these inebriating eﬀects: the swollen upper and lower eyelids, the circles under the eyes and the wrinkles around them give him a simultaneously tired and amused look, an eﬀect underlined by the lips open in a broad smile that contracts the cheeks and forms charming dimples at the sides of the mouth. The figure’s energetic vitality is suggested by his robust anatomy: the manifest nudity of his body is broken only by the little cloak draped over the left shoulder and falling along his back, behind the outstretched arm; at hip height it turns in a broad, deep curve to wrap around the front of the body and cover his genitals. The right hand now serves only to hold the cloak in place but it is not unlikely that it originally held another of the god’s attributes – a wine cup or thyrsus.

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