Procession of Bacchus

The stucco relief, patinated to emulate bronze, was transferred to the collections of Palazzo Venezia from the Museum of the Middle Ages and Renaissance housed in Castel Sant’Angelo between November 1919 and May 1920 (ACSRm, Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, Direzione Generale Antichità e Belle Arti, Divisione III, 1940–1960, b. 52). The prior provenance of the piece remains unknown.
The scene depicts Bacchus, the god of intoxication, being carried triumphantly on a chariot. He is preceded by a crowd of satyrs, maenads, musicians, and acrobats, all marching towards a circular temple that houses a central statue.
The composition is based on an invention by Maarten van Heemskerck, which is documented by the painting currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. 990; c. 1536–1537), created after his return from Rome (Prohaska 1989, 278–279; Dacos 2001, 41–42). However, the temple on the left of the relief is not depicted in this painting. This depiction of the Bacchanalian procession became widely popular through engravings. The first to reproduce the entire invention, copied in counterpart by the anonymous sculptor of the work in question, is that of Cornelis Bos dated 1543 (Schéle 1965, 16 ff.), printed on three sheets (Windsor Castle, inv. RCIN 851822). Numerous engravings were made from this initial one, depicting either the whole composition or parts of it on one or two sheets (Hollstein 1994, 186, no. 507). The print published by Nicolò Nelli in 1571 (London, British Museum, inv. Ii, 5.19) credits Giulio Romano with the invention, whileothers later credited Raphael (Massari 1993, 218–221). The production of the referenced work took place after the release of the 1543 print. The enlarged version, spread across three sheets, achieved significant success in chalcography. It was replicated by notable figures such as the Belgian Johann Theodor de Bry (1561–1623) and François Chauveau (1613–1676), a renowned engraver employed by King Louis XIV. This consistency in orientation with the original relief is noteworthy (Weigert 1951, 156).
Based on current knowledge, it is not feasible to definitively determine the function and intended use of this relief. It may have served as decoration or as study material in an academic context. The stucco artist achieves the task of plastically reproducing the invention by selecting a few figurative elements to which greater prominence is given, while progressively reducing the presence of other figures to a stucco finish. A simplification in the stiacciato technique is particularly evident in the crowd around the temple, where the sculptor aims to emphasize the individual figures of the stilt walker and the dancer, captured at the acrobatic peak of a backward somersault.
In the oldest inventory records, the work was classified as a bronze bas-relief. Later, after its entry into the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia, it was clarified to be patinated stucco designed to imitate bronze, as indicated by an anonymous pencil note in the early inventories of Palazzo Venezia from the 1920s and 1930s. A very similar object, described as a “bas-relief en bronze; Sujet allégorique d’après Jules Romain,” was auctioned in Paris on May 23, 1780 (Paillet 1780, 30 n. 127), showing market appreciation for this type of work.

Giulia Spoltore

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Fair. The work has experienced fractures and gaps that were repaired during recent conservation efforts.

In 2022, the work underwent comprehensive cleaning and was properly secured through filling procedures.

Rome, from the collections of the Museo del Medioevo e Rinascimento in Castel Sant’Angelo.

ACSRm = Archivio Centrale dello Stato di Roma.

Paillet Joseph Alexandre, Catalogue de tableaux des trois ecoles, par le plus grand maîtres anciens et modernes, Paris 1780;
Weigert Roger-Armand, Inventaire du fonds français. Graveurs du XVIIe. Boulanger (Jean), Chauveau (François), Paris 1951;
Schéle Sune, Cornelis Bos: A Study of the Origins of the Netherland Grotesque, Stockholm 1965;
Lise Giorgio, Un’incisione dal “Baccanale” di Maarten van Heemskerck, in «Rassegna di studi e notizie», 1, 1973, pp. 143-149;
Prohaska Wolfgang, Concetti anticamente moderni e modernamente antichi. Giulio un die Folgen, in Ferino-Pagden Sylvia, Oberhuber Konrad (a cura di), Fürstenhöfe der Renaissance. Giulio Romano und die klassische Tradition, catalogo della mostra (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Neue Burg, 6 dicembre 1989-18 febbraio 1990), Wien 1989, pp. 375-301;;
Massari Stefania , Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit. Opere grafiche autografe di collaborazione e bottega, Roma 1993;
Hollstein Francis Wilhelm Heinrich, Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts (1450-1750), Veldman Ilja M. (a cura di), Marteen Van Heemskerck, vol. II (New Testament, allegories, mythology, history and miscellaneous subjects), Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel 1994;
Dacos Nicole, Roma quanta fuit. Tre pittori fiamminghi nella Domus Aurea, Roma 2001.