Memoirs of the early Italian painters / by Anna Jameson; thoroughly revised and in part rewritten by Estelle M. Hurll.
- Anna Brownell Jameson
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Memoirs of the early Italian painters / by Anna Jameson; thoroughly revised and in part rewritten by Estelle M. Hurll. Source: Wellcome Collection.
288/335 page 244
![himself from his car to pursue Ariadne — in the dancing bac- chanals, the frantic grace of the bacchante, and the little joyous satyr in front, trailing the head of the sacrifice. This picture was suggested by a passage in Catullus. The poet, in the “ Marriage of Peleus and Thetis,” describes the couch of the goddess-bride as covered with rich tapestry “ embroidered with figures in gorgeous colors, portrayed with wondrous art.” It represents the story of Ariadne. In one part she is seen wan- dering on the shore of Naxos, after she has been abandoned by Theseus, broken-hearted, and appealing to all the gods against the perfidy of her lover. In another part Bacchus is seen ap- proaching : — Young Iacchus, flushed With bloom of youth, comes flying from above With choirs of satyrs and Sileni born In Indian Nyse: seeking thee he comes, 0 Ariadne! with thy love inflamed! They, blvthe, from every side come revelling on, Distraught with jocund madness, with a burst Of Bacchic outcries, and with tossing heads! Some shake their ivv-shrouded spears; and some From hand to hand, in wild and fitful feast, Snatch the torn heifer’s limbs: some gird themselves With twisted serpents; others bear along, In hollow arks, the mysteries of the god. On timbrels others smite « With tapering hands, or from smooth orbs of brass Clank forth a tinkling sound; and many blow On the hoarse horn; and the barbaric pipe Brays harsh upon the ear its dinning tune. We have only to read this fancied description of a fancied picture in presence of the real picture to feel how Titian has animated the words into hues and forms, and rendered the whole scene literally, line for line. Titian also painted for Duke Alplionso two other festive subjects; one, [“ The Bacchanal,”] in which a nymph and two men are dancing, while another nymph lies asleep; and a third in which a number of children and Cupids are sporting round a statue of Venus: there are here upwards of sixty figures in every variety of attitude, some fluttering in the air, some climbing the fruit-trees, some shooting arrows, or embracing each other. This picture is known as the Sacrifice to the God- dess of Fertility. While it remained in Italy it was a study for the first painters, for Poussin, the Caracci, Albano, and L’ia-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24877888_0288.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
