Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs of Nysa (Q72753408)

Label from: English (en)

view on Wikidata skip this artwork browse artworks
genre: mythological painting (Q3374376)
artist: François Boucher (Q180932)
collection: Kimbell Art Museum (Q1741629)
location: Kimbell Art Museum (Q1741629)
material used: oil paint (Q296955) canvas (Q12321255)
depicts: Mercury (Q1150)
instance of: painting (Q3305213)
Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur ID: 20284022
Google Arts & Culture asset ID: uQH0r_hD1Kq1Ig

catalog URL: https://www.kimbellart.org/collection/ap-197207

information from the Kimbell Art Museum catalog

description: At the center of this painting is the infant god Bacchus. Born of Jupiter’s illicit union with the princess Semele, Bacchus was transported by Mercury to Nysa for safekeeping from Juno’s jealous rage. Nestled in the clouds beside Mercury, the eagle bearing a lightning shaft alludes to the circumstances of Bacchus’s fiery birth. As recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Zeus had fallen in love with Semele, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. To punish her wayward consort, Juno tricked Semele into asking the god to appear to her in all his majesty.

Connect with Wikidata