Attributed to Abraham Janssens

Collection Leo van Puyvelde, Chief Curator of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium;

By descent to the present owner.

This sculptural figure of Bacchus inescapably evokes the style of Abraham Janssens, which was marked by the influence the international Caravaggesque movement: the strength of the figure’s modelling; the fluid, laden brushstroke; and the marked contrasts between the bunches of grapes simply accentuated with a touch of light and the model’s florid complexion – all these are notably comparable to the light effects in Scaldis and Antverpia by the same master (Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, inv. 212).

In the present composition, Bacchus, god of wine in Roman mythology, is shown with his classical attributes: wearing a crown of grapes and vine leaves, he holds a glass in his right hand, whose facture is typical of sixteenth century Flemish goldsmiths’ work. In fact, it was in Antwerp that Janssens settled permanently in 1602, after his travels in Italy.

Another attribution, to Jan van Dalen, has been suggested as a result of comparing the present  Bacchus to one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (inv. 1678). Active in Antwerp in the mid-seventeenth century, Jan van Dalen produced several portraits of Bacchus, and our version could be another of these.